
oo 1 



s S i 




A NEW AND ORIGINAL 



OF 



THE BOOK OF REVELATION. 



AS WELL AS THE 



PROPHECIES OF DANIEL, EZEKIEL, JOEL, &c. 
WITH USEFUL AND PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS: 

TOGETHER WITH 

NUMEROUS CITATIONS FROM THE JEWISH TALMUDS AND TARGUMS j 

AND ALSO FROM 

ANCIENTT HISTORY AND AUTHORS, 

ILLUSTRATING MORE FULLY THE SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE OF 
THIS MYSTERIOUS BOOK. 

BY WILLIAM I. ROY, 

Author of the Hebrew and English Dictionary. 



" Blessed is he that readeth, and they that understand the words of this prophecy, and keep 
those things that are written therein, for the time is at hand." — Rev. 1 : 3. 



iTMBEI.I. ISHED WITH STRABO S MAP OF THE WORLD, AS IT WAS AT THE TIME OF OUR SAVIOR. 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY D. FANSHAW, 575 BROADWAY; 
Printing Office, corner of Ann and Nas ean -streets, 



134* 




Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
forty-eight, by William L. Roy, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 
States, for the Southern District of New-York. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Saint John, the author of this Book and the Gospel according to St. John, 
was the son of Zebedee, a poor fisherman of Galilee ; he had two sons, James 
and John ; both were brought up to the same occupation with their father. 

They were poor and illiterate, and of little or no repute among men, con- 
sidered "the filth and ofFscouring of the world." "They had nothing, and 
yet they possessed all things ; were poor, yet made many rich." They were 
men of strong minds, great zeal, patience, and resignation to the will of God; 
" they counted all things but loss and dross for the excellency of the know- 
ledge of Jesus ;" were willing not only to suffer but to die for the name of 
Jesus. 

The world at this time was in a state of general expectation that a prince 
should appear in Judea who would conquer the whole world. The Jews be- 
lieved this person to be Prince Messiah, who, as they expected, was to come 
in pomp and splendor, and redeem them from the dominion of the Romans ; 
but little did they imagine that Jesus of Nazareth was this identical person. 
And because he assumed the character of the Messiah and of God, and they 
"saw no form nor comeliness in him, nor beauty, that they should desire 
him," they at last crucified and put him to death. 

He was directly the opposite of every thing they expected of the Messiah. 
" Meek and lowly in heart and in life ;" plain, simple, and unassuming in his 
manners, " he made himself of no reputation, (though the Lord of the whole 
universe,) stooped so low as to take upon him the form of a servant," and 
actually washed his disciples (the fishermen's) feet. He was the friend of 
the poor, the benefactor of mankind ; was holy, harmless, undefiied, and sepa- 
rate from sinners, " and made higher than the heavens." 

His miracles, mission, preaching, piety, humility, zeal, patience, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance, and pure benevolence, 
commended him to all who looked for redemption in Israel. He was evidently 
" God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached 
among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

To the astonishment of men and angels the King of kings and Lord of lord& 
passed by all the] fashionable circles of the rich and great, (the wise, learned, 
noble,) and stooped to the humble walks of life, and there made choice of 
poor but pious fishermen to be his ambassadors to a perishing and sinful 
world. " You see your calling, brethren," observes St. Paul, u that not 
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble men arc 
called (to the ministry) but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world, 
and things that are despised hath he chosen ; yea, and things that are not; to 
bring to nought things that are, that no flesh might glory in his presence, 1 
Cor. I : 7. Among these were Peter and John, ignorant and illiterate in the 
estimation of men, but wise and learned (in spiritual things) in the estimation 
of God. They were the real priests, with TJrim and Thummim divinely taught, 
and inspired by the Spirit of God. These were the men " who turned the 
world upside down by their preaching," astonished it with their wisdom, zeal, 
power and eloquence ; no wonder, then, that three thousand w r ere converted 
in one day under one sermon of Peter's. And John's Book of Revelation has 
been the wonder of the church in all ages. It is so profound, learned, lofty f 
majestic, sublime in spiritual things, that it has remained a mystery for ages, 
and yet it is a revealed book! How true is that saying, "the natural man 
discerneth not the things that are spiritual, because spiritually discerned they 
are foolishness to him." And some divines who could not comprehend the 
author, have, like the Pharisees of old, poured down a flood of contempt on 
him and his book. Some have said that it is so wrapped and involved in 
figures and allegories, is so wildjand visionary, is so dark and obscure, that 
nothing clear or certain can be proved from it. And another divine, so called, 
hath not scrupled to assert that the book of Revelation either finds a man mad 
or makes him so. And a third highly commends commentators for not giving 
their opinion on it at all. But to avoid old wives' fables and needless conjec- 
tures and opinions respecting the author of this book and the time when it 
was written, I shall endeavor, by the help of God, to prove that it was not 
written in the reign of Domitian, but in that of Nero. That St. John's Gos- 
pel was written before this book, is sufficiently clear from the first and second 
chapters.. It is not easy to determine the time when he was released from 
the island, but it is not improbable that it was^when Nero was going to make 
a canal from Avernum to Ostia, for the purpose of which, he ordered all per- 
sons, every where, to be released and brought to Italy ; and that such as were 
convicted of the most heinous crimes should be only condemned to work 
therein. See Suetonius in Nero. And if St. John was brought to Italy at 
this time, in all probability he hadjan opportunity of seeing Nero, Vespasiaa, 
and Titus, personally. That he did not survive the destruction of Jerusalem, 
is very evident from chap. 10 : 10, 13, and 11 : 1, 13. See chap. 20: 4. 



INTRODUCTION, 



5 



When, where, and by whom was it written, are grave questions, and diffi- 
cult to answer. Evidence, therefore, external, internal, circumstantial, and 
collateral, are the only sources by which we can solve these difficulties. 

External evidence may be deduced from either sacred or profane history, 
and also from other sources. The Gospel according to St. John, his Epistles and 
Book of Revelation, are the only works of his which have been handed down 
to us through the church ; their authenticity and inspiration Imxe never as yet 
been discredited. Strabo's Geography, (his map of the world is attached to 
this work,) written before Christ — Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, written 
a few 3 T ears after the destruction of Jerusalem — Tacitus and Suetonius' His- 
tory of Rome — Homer's Illiad — Plato and Socrates' systems of Philosophy — 
have never been doubted ; and yet there is far greater evidence of the authen- 
ticity and genuineness of John's Gospel and Apocalypse than that of any of 
the works alluded to. 

How clearly, forcibly, energetically, does John point out the corruptions 
and backslidings of the Seven Churches'of Asia. They certainly must have 
been revealed to him in Patmos, or he should never previously and when ab- 
sent have discovered them. 

The white horse and his rider, the red horse, the pale horse, the black 
horse and their riders; the symbolic beasts; the beast coming up out of the 
bottomless pit and declaring war against Christ and his church ; the murder 
of the two witnesses ; the beast's wound in battle and recovery ; his false 
miracles; the 1260 days of the war; the battle of Harmageddon ; the fall 
of spiritual Babylon; the remarkable events which preceded its ruin; the 
city divided into three different factions, who fought desperately with each 
other ; the great effusion of human blood ; the large stones thrown into it by 
engines, &c. ; the great red dragon ; his persecution of the church ; her 
flight into the wilderness ; his edict, under the emblem of water ; his loss of 
the empire because of this persecution ; • the first resurrection; the binding 
and loosing of Satan; the final destruction of Gog and Magog by fire from 
heaven ; are all predictions which either have been or shall be very soon 
fulfilled. 

Justin the Martyr, in the year of our Lord 140, quotes largely from John's 
Book of Revelation. Z 

Mileto, bishop of Sardis, wrote explanatory notes on it. 
Ireneus, about A. D. 170, commended it highly. 

Theophilus, of Antioch, makes several quotations from it in his controversy 
with Hermogenes. 

Clement, of Alexandria, refersig^ it frequently. 

Epiphanius, still earlier, Tertullian, Origen, Andreas, and Arethas, all 
assert that it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the reign 



6 



INTRODUCTION. 



of Nero. Bishop Newton and many other eminent men are of the same 
opinion. When we come to treat on the internal evidence of it, we shall 
more fully establish this point. « 

It is couched in dark,* mysterious, or symbolic language ; but this was abso- 
lutely necessary, because of the hatred of both Jews and Gentiles to Chris- 
tianity, and especially the rulers of both nations, who viewed it with a 
jealous and malignant eye. The fact is, it was sapping the very foundation 
of loth systems, and becoming so popular that all nations were submitting to 
the mild and easy yoke of Jesus. 

Judaism was now tottering and ready to fall, and Paganism giving way to 
Christianity in every quarter, and the kingdoms of this world becoming the 
kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ. Nero became exceedingly jealous of 
Christ and his kingdom, because making such vast inroads on the empire. 
This was the very cause of his persecution of the christians ; he was afraid 
Christ should become his rival in the government, and he was determined to 
exterminate his followers. See Exod. 1 : 9, 10. This book, therefore, if it 
fell into the hands of either Jews or Gentiles might -be interpreted as treason- 
able, and John not only lose his head, but another general persecution be 
raised against the church. This accounts for the metaphorical and ambigu- 
ous style of it. 

Internal evidence. This is founded on reason and inspiration. 

1. Then, if the remarkable events set forth in this Book are prophecies, of 
which there can be no doubt, (chap. 1:3; 22 : 19,) and if they were literally 
fulfilled, then John must have been a prophet as well as an apostle, and his 
.Book be written by inspiration of God. See 1 Pet. 1 : 21. John is classed 
among the prophets by the angel ; chap. 22 : 9. 

2. Were these remarkable predictions and events fulfilled in the reign of 
Bomitian or that of Nero? are questions of the utmost importance. We 
think we shall make this matter so plain and simple that there can be no 
doubt as to when John wrote this book, and by whom he was banished 'into 
the isle of Patmos. 

3. It certainly could not have been in the reign of Domitian, for not a 
single event set forth in the book took place during his reign, but they all 
took place in the time of Nero. 

4. Our Lord indicated to both Peter and John that they should live until he 
came to judge the Jews, and then die martyrs for him there. John, 21 : 18, 22. 
His coming, here, could not surely refer to the day of judgment, but to his 
coming to destroy Jerusalem ; an event predicted by the prophets, and called 
the " day of the Lord " in the Scriptures*! When that city was destroyed, 
then all the predictions of the prophets were'literally fulfilled. Luke, 21 : 22. 

5. Peter and John were then either seventy or seventy-five years of age ; 



INTRODUCTION", 



but if John lived to the reign of Domitian he must have been over one hun- 
dred, a thing improbable. Besides, the book itself shows clearly that it was 
the production of a man considerably younger in years ; the language, the 
ideas, the force and energy of it, all establish this fact. 

6. Chapter 1 : 17 ; 11 : 8 ; 12 : 3, prove, beyond doubt, that Jerusalem was 
not destroyed when this book was written. Hence, " Every eye shall see 
him," Jews and Gentiles ; " and they also that pierced him," the priests and 
the Jewish people,- beyond doubt. Luke, 23 : 13, 14, 18 ; Acts, 2 : 23, 36 ; 
also, 3 : 15 ; 4 : 27 ; 5 : 29. " And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn." 
In the siege of Jerusalem, the tribes were all confounded and destroyed, or 
else carried captives into Egypt, and have never, as yet, been discovered. 

7. Judah was to remain a distinct tribe until Shiloh came, and then all 
distinction was to cease forever. The literal was to be blended with the spiri- 
tual. Chap. 7 : 5. 

8. It was in the time of general persecution and general commotion that 
St. John was banished into Patmos, and must have been the very time pre-' 
dieted by our Lord. Matt. 24 : 6-14. We assert that no such events as are 
described in this chapter took place in the time of Domitian, but were all 
literally fulfilled in the reign of Nero. 

9. There was no general persecution of the Christians, as such, in the 
reigns of Vespasian, Titus, or # Domitian. They detested the Jeivs, and some 
of them, because of their wealth, and through the avariciousness of Domitian, 
were falsely accused of treason, and banished into foreign countries and their 
property seized by him. Some christian Jews improfessi (not in profession, 
but outwardly such,) were treated in the same way, as the emperor did not 
perceive the distinction, and therefore treated both alike. To commence at 
this late period a general persecution of the Christians, would be at the risk 
of losing his head and his crown. See Suetonius. Neither Tacitus nor 
Suetonius intimates such a thing as a persecution of the Christians in his 
time, but both mention that of Nero's, and animadverts severely on Nero for 
his barbarous and cruel conduct in this respect. 

10. A mighty and powerful nation was to be subdued and utterly destroyed. 
in the reign of either one or other ; but such an event did not occur in the 
time of Domitian, but in the reign of Nero. Vespasian then destroyed the 
mighty and holy people, and caused them to be extinct, as a nation, for ever. 

11. These great national calamities were then at hand, within reach or 
sight of the people. Chap. 1 : 3. They took place immediately after the 
release of John from the Isle of Patmos. 

12. This national destruction was to be accompanied by the seven plagues 
of Egypt, as was predicted two thousand years before by Moses. Deut. 28 : 
60. These plagues came on the Jews alone, and on no other nation, Chap- 
ter 6 : 8, 9. 



TXTRODUCTIOX. 



13. The battle of Harmageddon was fought in a province exactly 200 
miles in length. Chap. 14 : 50. But no such battle was fought in Italy in 
the reign of Domitian, but it took place in the time of Nero. 

14. Wars and rumors of wars, general and national calamities, accompanied 
the downfal of Jerusalem in Nero's time ; but no such calamities came upon 
the world in that of Domitian. 

15. A vial, or heavy judgment, was to be poured out on the seat of the 
Pagan beast ; and three kings at this time were to be subdued in contending 
for the crown. These were Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. Chapter 16 : 10. 
There were no kings contending for the crown in Domitian's time. 

16. Daniel's beast was then to succeed to the empire ; and this is the very 
beast that was to destroy the mighty and holy people, and cause the daily 
sacrifice to cease for ever from Jerusalem. 

17. Peace was restored in the .East, among the Parthians, in Nero's time, 
and not in that of Domitian. Chap. 16 : 12. This is represented by the waters 
of the Euphrates being dried up; or, may allude to the bridge which Nero 
had thrown across this river for his armies to pass over. 

18. The symbolic locusts were let loose in the time of the beast with the 
seven heads and ten horns, and not in the reign of Domitian. Chap. 9 : 3. 

19. Gabriel came on a special mission, to announce that time should be no 
longer (than the 1260 days) with the Jews;. but he did not in the reign of 
Domitian declare that time should be no longer with us Gentiles. Chapter 
10 : 6, 19. For, after this, 

20. The two tidinesses had to prophesy ; the woman to flee into the wilder- 
ness of Judea, because of persecution, and Babylon to fall, and then the king- 
doms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ ; which 
proves beyond doubt that his mission was special, and not general. 

21. A great earthquake caused the tenth part of Babylon to fall; but we 
have no account of any such event in Rome in the time of Domitian. Chap- 
ter 13 : 11. 

22. Domitian. did not declare war against both Jews and Christians, for 
Jerusalem was destroyed thirty years previous, and another general persecu- 
tion of the Christians would be a hazardous game with him, as Nero lost the 
throne by it; and it was still more dangerous in his time, as nearly the whole 
empire had now embraced Christianity. The palace, the senate, the forum, 
and a great part of the public offices were filled with Christians, because of 
their strict integrity and piety. See chap. 12 : 7. 

23. His ministers or magistrates did not destroy the third part of the stars 
of heaven, (or Christ's ministers,) but Nero did. Chap. 12: 4. And he lost 
the empire because of it ; verses 9, 10. 

24.. Ou,)' Lord was crucified in Jerusalem and not in Rome ; and in the 



IXTRODUCTIOX. 



9 



streets of Jerusalem the two witnesses were killed and their bodies exposed to 
public view ; "and this by the beast that besieged the city. Chap. 11 : 7, 19. 

25. It was entirely destroyed, and Zion ploughed up like afield thirty years 
before the reign of Domitian; therefore the two witnesses could not be killed 
in his reign, but in that of Nero. Suetonius declares that Domitian was far 
more mild and virtuous than either his father or brother ; and he could not 
bear the idea of even taking the life of,an tx, much less that of a man. 

26. Finally, all these events were to take place in the reign of the seventh 
imperor of Rome ; that is, in Nero's, and not Domitian's reign, who was the 
twelfth emperor. Chap. 18 : 10. Therefore, John was not banished into the 
Isle of Patmos by the latter, but by the former. * 

Circumstantial evidence may be collected from various sources ; from testimo- 
ny for and against. 1. The various commentaries written on it, show evidently 
that such a book existed, and was in repute. 2. The spurious works written 
by Cerenthus and others in imitation of it, proves that it was genuine, as well 
as popular. 3. The various disputes about when it was written, and where 
it was written, and by whom it was written, shows that it was a book worthy 
the attention of great scholars, as well as great divines. 4. In all ages, and by 
all denominations, it has been considered as an extraordinary book. Junius'' 
Letters are genuine and very popular, though not authentic. The author's 
name is concealed, because the government icas implicated. John appended 
his name to this book, but wisely concealed his predictions, because Jews and 
Gentiles w r ere implicated in them. The Apocalypse (revelation) is supported 
therefore, from evidence indisputable, external, internal, circumstantial, and 
collateral. Collateral evidences may be deduced from coins, pillars, monu- 
ments, tombs, fyc. The pyramids of Egypt, Pompey's Pillar, the ruins of 
Troy, Titus' Triumphal Arch, are all relics of antiquity, designed to perpetu- 
ate, remarkable events. 

The tombs of Joseph, Abraham, David, Solomon, Jehosaphat, and the Holy 
Sepulchre, are designed to perpetuate the memory of the dead or distinguished 
personages. 

John, the poor fisherman of Galilee, had no tomb, no coins, no monu- 
ment, no pillar, to transmit his worth to posterity; but he had Jesus with 
him. His gospel and Book of Revelation, however, have handed down his 
name from one generation to another, and though dead, yet he lives in the 
hearts of all genuine Christians. But Nero, unintentionally, erected a splen- 
did monument to perpetuate the memory of the beloved John. His cave is to 
be seen by all travellers to this day in the Isle of Patmos r and no doubt, if search 
in future shall be made, his name will be found engraven on the walls in 
large Hebrew characters. 

John, however, was not forgotten by some of his beloved brethren at Rome ; 

1* 



10 



INTRODUCTION. 



ior the following remarkable Greek Inscription was found on a statue of Hip* 
jjotitus, discovered at Rome in 1551. 

Concerning the Gospel and Revelation of St. John. 
The Syrian version lias this inscription : 

" The revelation made to St. John the Evangelist by God, in the Island of 
Patmos, into which he was bamshfd by Nero Caesar." 

As this is the oldest and best version of the work in the world, this testi- 
mony is of vast importance in determining the time when the book was written, 
and the person by whom John was banished to Patmos. 

The language in which, it was written. This, no doubt, was Hebrew. 
The Kodesh Lashon, holy tongue, the inspired language of God, venerated 
among all nations, Jews and Gentiles. St. John had a copy of the law and 
t he prophets with him : all the Apostles carried a copy $f both with them 
wherever they went ; the Greek version was scarce and very unpopular 
among the Jews, because not given by inspiration, as was the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures. And, indeed, the Rabbins forbid the reading of it in the synagogues, 
as it was written in a barbarous tongue. John could speak in the Greek 
tongue, but it is doubtful whether he could write it as fluently and correctly 
as Hebrew. His Book of Revelation is so full of Hebraisms and Rabbinical 
expression, that it is evident to me that his work was originally written in the 
Holy tongue, especially as it would be considered more sacred : and this is my 
reason for adhering so closely to the Hebrew text, and not the Greek text of 
this work. 

Hence, Alpha and Omega. One like the son of man. The two-edged sword. 
One of the elders answered, (inquired.) The seven stars are (represent.) The 
seven golden candlesticks are (represent.) Chap. 1 : .20. I will give to eat, 
(cause to partake of.) John 6 : 53. A new name written, (engraven.) 
He that hath an ear to hear (to understand and obey.) Shall be clothed in 
w r hite raiment (be made holy, or constituted a priest.) I will not blot out (ex- 
communicate.) Chap. 3 : 5. Sir, T"^ thou knowest. Chap. 7 : 14. John 
5 : 7. A door was opened (a prophecy explained.) Come , up hither (look, 
examine this.) And there was set (prepared, fixed.) Four beasts, (greai; 
men, chief men.) Chap. 4 : 6. He loosed (opened, revealed.) Chap. 5 : 
2. The white horse and his rider (salvation and its author.) Chap. 6:2. 
The four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four 
winds thereof. Chap 7:1. The Tree of Life. The fire proceeding out of 
his mouth. The key of David, and key of the bottomless pit. The angel 
flying through the midst of heaven, having, &c. The number of the horse- 
men, two hundred thousand thousand, for an innumerable number. Seal up 
the roll — eat it up ; shall be sweet in thy mouth, but bitter in thy bowels'. 



INTRODUCTION, 



11 



Chap. 10: 9, 10. The great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns; 
the old serpent, called the Devil and Satan. His tail (magistrates.) War in 
heaven (persecution in the church.) Michael and his angels (Christ and his 
ministers) fought (contended) by faith and prayer. Chap. 12: 3 ; 4 ; 7. The 
sea of glass, harps of salvation, are all Rabbinical as well as symbolic lan- 
guage, which proves that the work was originally written in Hebrew, and af- 
terwards translated into Greek or Syriac, and then Arabic. Some of our best 
scholars have been greatly perplexed with the Greek of the Apocalypse. 
See Middleton on " Son of Man." Also **i tsass- en. Pp. 660 ; 664. 

The beast with the seven heads. This is variously understood. Some think 
the Pope to be the beast; others the Protestant, or Henry the Eighth; and 
some the Roman empire ; and others Mahomed. And a late author has, as he 
thought, identified Napoleon Buonaparte as the beast. And the last author, 
and perhaps the least of all, makes out Daniel's beast to be a heathen emperor. 

The various modes of interpretation adopted by different authors. Some 
have taken a literal view of it ; others a spiritual, and some an allegorical 
view of it. Some have viewed it prophetically, and interpreted it as such, 
and all their spurious predictions of different remarkable events, which they 
asserted should take place at a certain time, have utterly failed, and the only 
service they have rendered the world is to make madmen or fools of the 
people. We hope in future the people will learn wisdom from the things 
which they have lately suffered by Millerism and Mormonism. 

The reason why the Book is not understood. 1. Because, not acquainted 
with the language in which it was written, and the Rabbinical and symbolic 
style of it. The seven churches of Asia understood it well; and if we had 
the same faith, wisdom, and grace, we should understand it also. It was 
revealed in a dungeon, written with tears, and sealed with blood ; and a bless- 
ing is promised to them who read, understand, and live according to it. 2. 
Sectarian views have led Catholics and Protestants into the most gross errors 
in their application of John's Book of Revelation. 3. A delicate regard for the 
opinions of wise and learned men have caused many to defer giving an opinion on 
it at all in opposition to such great and talented men. 4. Some are altogether 
literal, and others altogether spiritual in their views of it. One author, to 
outdo the whole of his predecessors, icent to heaven to see John himself, and 
came back with a revelation of a book already revealed. 5. Some, to gain 
notoriety, and others to make merchandise of it, have written volumes as large 
as the Bible upon it, without one original idea in their whole work ; they are 
simply reprints of other men's works. 6. Some authors who have had learn- 
ing but no piety, and others piety but no learning, have both failed in their 
attempts to discover its meaning. See Dan. 10 : 12. 7. Others, who have 
had both combined, have failed to study the Scriptures for themselves in the 



3.2 



INTRODUCTION, 



original, and have, with a slight variety, followed the steps of their predeces- 
sors. 8. There is a literal, spiritual, metaphorical, allegorical, and prophetic 
meaning to be attached to different parts of this book, and to know when and 
where to apply them is a matter of great moment. 

Misapplication or misconstruction of any part of this Boole is adding to 
or taking from it, and of course we must come under the wo denounced in 
this Book. 

We hope no person will be so uncharitable as to suppose the author has 
combined all the qualifications requisite to a proper understanding of this book. 
He certainly feels himself inadequate to the great task, but a sense of duty, 
and at the solicitation of many friends and eminent ministers, he has piiblished 
his opinion on this mysterious Book ; and if it shall prove to be a help to 
a better understanding of it, he shall feel amply paid. If not, and it should 
prove a failure, like all the rest, then we must wait patiently till the Most High 
shall make a new revelation of it. ]t was written in the end of the Jewish 
dispensation ; it may now, in the providence of God, be interpreted in the end of 
the Gentile dispensation, and this for a wise purpose. 

What still confirms the views I have taken of the Revelation is this : 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke have all given an accurate account of our Lord's 
predictions respecting the zdter destruction of Jerusalem ; but St. John has en- 
tirely omitted this in his Gospel : his revelation serves, therefore, as a supple- 
ment to it, and as a commentary on all our Lord's predictions, as well as the 
Old Testament prophecies which refer to that event. 

Finally, I have but one end in view in the publication of this work: the 
glory of God and the good of mankind ; and my object is not to please, but to 
profit. I have not studied style, but simplicity : I have endeavored through- 
out life work, as far as practicable, to use scriptural language. I have added 
a second class of notes, which were written in my juvenile days, when about 
twenty-two years of age. They may be useful to the pious and devoted 
Christian, though probably not such to the critical reader, who looks more to 
style than to good sense and reason. 

WILLIAM L. ROY. 

Brooklyn, December 1, 1847. 



NOTES 

ON 

THE REVELATION. 



CHAPTER L 

THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto 
him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly 



1 The Revelation. The exposition 
or illustration of the old testament pro- 
phecies which remained at that time 
to be fulfilled, and of the corruptions 
and backslidings of the seven churches 
of Asia ; and also a revelation of re- 
markable events which were to take 
place from the year of our Lord sixty-* 
jive unto the end of the world. We see 
therefore that this is a revealed and 
not an unrevealed book, the meaning 
of which is not known either to the 
church or the world. It was probably 
plain and simple to John and the 
churches to which he was then writ- 
ing ; the mystery is in ourselves, and 
not in the book. " The spiritual man 
(the Apostle observes) judgeth (dis- 
cerneth) all things ; yea, the deep 
things of God." 

Jesus. This is a special, peculiar ti- 
tle given to him at his birth. The an- 
gel said, "his name shall be called 
Jesus : because he shall save his peo- 

2 



pie from their sins." Matt. 1 : 21. His 
name therefore means a Savior. In 
order to accomplish our salvation, three 
things were requisite : — 1. That he 
should be able to save. 2. That he 
should be willing to do it. 3. That 
he should die to save us. As the scrip- 
tures every where declare him to be 
God, he is able to save to the very ut- 
termost all them that come unto God 
by him. Heb. 7 : 25. There is no 
other name given among men where- 
by we can be saved but the name of 
Jesus. Acts, 4 : 12. He commanded 
repentance and remission of sins to be 
preached in his name among all na- 
tions, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke, 
24 : 47. He is the Savior of all men, 
especially of them that believe. 1 Tim. 
4 : 10. That is, he died, that all, 
through him, might be saved, yet 
he saves none but those who believe, 
viz. in his divinity, doctrines, mira- 
cles, death, sufferings, resurrection, 



10 



NOTES ON THE 



come to pass ; and he sent and signified it by his angel 
unto his servant John : 



and ascension to glory. To deny 
his doctrine is the same as to deny his 
divinity. The apostle assures us that 
" without the shedding' of blood there 
is no remission of sins," and unless the 
divinity and humanity were united in 
one person, no atonement could be 
made for sin. Hence he is the true 
God, and eternal life, God over all, and 
blessed for ever ; the creator and up- 
holder of all things, God manifest in 
the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen 
of angels, preached among the gen- 
tiles, believed on in the world, receiv- 
ed up into glory, i Tim. 3:16. 2. He 
is not only able, but willing to save. 
tl Look unto me, and be ye saved, all 
the ends of the earth ; for I am God, 
and besides me there is no Savior." 
Isaiah, 45: 21, 22. " He has no plea- 
sure in the death of him that dieth." 
Ezekiel, 18 : 32. " It is not his will 
that any should perish, but that all 
should repent and live." John, 3 : 16. 
Matt. 18 : 14. Finally. " He, by the 
grace of God, hath tasted death for 
every man." Heb. 2:9. " He died, 
the just for the unjust, to bring us to 
God." 1 Peter, 3 : 18. "He that spar- 
ed not his own son, but delivered him 
up for us all, how shall he not with 
him also freely give us all things." 
Romans, 8 : 32. 

Christ. This is also a peculiar title, 
and signifies the anointed, consecrated 
one, from the Greek Xpta> Chrio, to 
anoint ; but his consecration ivas spi- 
ritual, because about to commence a 
new dispensation. He was anointed 
Prophet, Priest, and King. " The 



Spirit of the Lord God," says he, " is 
upon me, because he hath anointed me 
to preach the gospel to the poor," &e. 
Isaiah, 61 : 1. These three offices 
were never combined in any one indi- 
vidual but him. Christ and Messiah 
are of the same import ; he answered 
to the character of Masheach in every 
respect, (as we shall prove in the se- 
quel of this work.) 

Which God gave to him. As our 
Prophet, Priest, and King, he was to 
teach and instruct the people, to atone 
for their sins, and to rule over them 
as their Lord and Master. 

To shoiv unto his servants. His min-. 
isters. They were not masters, or lords 
over God's heritage, but simply ser- 
vants, who were willing to wash the 
disciples feet, if requisite. Have you, 
reader, this disposition ? I fear not. 
The Savior was determined to have no 
aristocracy in his church. " Whoso- 
ever is greatest among you," says he, 
" let him be the servant of all.' 1 Matt, 
23: 11. And "he that is the least 
(most humble) is the greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven." Luke, 7 : 28. 
" He that humbleth himself shall be 
exalted, and he that exalteth himself 
shall be abased." The Savior sent 
poor, humble fishermen to be his am- 
bassadors to the heathen, and the con- 
sequence was, that through the preach- 
ing of these ignorant and illiterate men, 
so called, the majority of the heathen 
world was brought under subjection to 
Christianity. 

Things which must shortly come to 
pass. That is, within a few years ; 



REVELATION. 



11 



2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the 
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 



they are fast approaching, are at the 
very door. The battle of Harmaged- 
don is at hand ; therefore prepare to 
meet thy God, O Israel ! 

Signified it by his angel to his ser- 
vant John. This angel was one of the 
prophets, probably Isaiah, see chapter 
22 : 9. He was formerly a minister- 
ing spirit on earth, he is now a minis- 
tering spirit in heaven, and sent back 
again to protect those who were 
heirs of salvation. What a blessed 
encouragement to faithful ministers to 
know that after they depart this life 
they shall become angelic beings !* 
See chap. 16 : 2. 

2 Who bare record of the word of 
God. That is, devar Yehovah, the 
word of Jehovah, who is equal with 
God in wisdom, power, glory, and 
endless duration. He bare record of 



Jiim in Ms gospel, the very first verse 
of which proves his divinity beyond 
doubt. In the beginning (viz. of the 
creation) was the Word, (the eternal 
logos, Philo,) and the word was with 
God, (that is, when the world was 
created,) (" and the world was made 
by him," verse 3,) and God was the 
wora\ the very identical logos himself. 
This clause " bare record,''' is in the 
past tense, and proves that John wrote 
his gospel before his banishment to the 
Isle of Patmos.f 

And of all things which he saw. 
When in the Mount with our Savior, 
and also during the whole of his public 
ministry on earth. He was an eye 
witness himself of all that he has 
published to the world in his gospel. 
See Matt. 17 : 2. 



* The high priest entered into the holiest of holies once in the year, to make atonement 
for the people and himself. Levit. 14, &c. And the apostle Paul observes, " He entered 
not in without blood, which he offered for himself and the errors of the people." See 
Heb. 9 : 7. Here the high priest was to consult with God in secret, to know his will, and 
to intercede in behalf of the people. And so it is with Jesus, our great high priest ; he 
has entered into the holiest of all, namely, heaven itself; but not by the blood of bulls or 
of goats, or the ashes of an heifer, but by his own most precious blood, not once in the year, 
but once for all, in the end of the world. And as he is our rriediator, between God and 
man, he is here represented as communicating the will of God to his beloved John. 

t St. John, in his gospel, bore testimony to the birth, life, miracles, and sufferings of 
Christ; also bis death, resurrection, and ascension to glory. See John, 21 : 24. This is a 
title or a name applicable to Christ alone, viz. the Word of God. 



12 



NOTES ON THE 



3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the 
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are 
written therein : for the time is at hand. 

4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia : 
Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and 
which was, and which is to come ; and from the seven 
Spirits which are before his throne ; 



3 Blessed (happy ) is he that read- 
etJi. That is, so as to understand it, and 
live according to its divine precepts. 
Many have read it, and cursed the au- 
thor as a fool or a madman, simply 
because they could not understand or 
comprehend his meaning, nor make 
merchandise of his book. How true 
is the apostle's assertion, "the natural 
(unconverted) man receiveth not the 
things that are spiritual," because spi- 
ritually discerned, and "they are fool- 
ishness to him;" but "the spiritual 
man judgeth all things, yea, the deep 
things of God." 

The time is at hand. When all the 
old testament prophecies shall be lite- 
rally fulfilled.* 

4 John, to the seven churches whvch 
are in Asia, Ephesus, Pergamos, 
Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadel- 
phia, Laodicea, see verse 11. These 
churches were not stately edifices, as 
some imagine, but simply congrega- 
tions of christian believers. See chap. 
2:1. Epiphanius asserts that there 
was no public edifice in Thyatira un- 
til long after the revelations were 
written. 



Ephesus lays now in ruins, and can- 
not be identified. 

Laodicea is the abode of foxes and 
jackalls, &c. 

Smyrna is still a large, flourishing 
and commercial city. 

Philadelphia, called by the Turks 
Alia Shehr, is still a populous and 
flourishing city ; and so it is with Thy- 
atira ; but Pergamos and Sardis both 
lay in ruins. 

Peace be unto you. This is purely 
Hebrew, and the usual mode of salu- 
tation among the Jews to this day, 
00$ OftlB Sh a -lorn la-chem. The 
first time it occurs in the Bible is 
when Joseph revealed himself to his 
brethren at the second meeting. Gen. 
43 : 23. And when our spiritual Jo- 
seph (Jesus) revealed himself to his 
disciples the second time after his re- 
surrection, he said Peace be unto you, 
Luke, 24 : 36. When the apostles 
were sent out to preach, they were 
commanded to salute the house into 
which they went with Shalom lachem, 
and if the son of Peace, or a person 
who loved God, was in the house, he 
would return their peace with Shalom 



* This is the sense in which we must understand at hand, in different parts of the scrip- 
tures. Matt. 26 : 46. Mark, 1 : 15. 



REVELATION, 



5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, 
and the First-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the 
kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed 
us from our sins in his own blood, 



sholem. This was a welcome to the 
pilgrim or stranger to make that house 
his home as long as he thought proper 
to stay ; but if the owner did not re- 
turn the salutation, then the traveller 
departed, and went off to some other 
house of peace or piety. The Ma- 
homedan mode of salutation is like 
that of the Jews, Salem alikem ; the 
Hindoos bo bo salem, and the Per- 
sians the same as the Turks ; but John 
has added a new item, that is grace, 
because under a new and gracious dis- 
pensation. See Matt. 10 : 12, 13. 

From him wh.ch is, ivhich was, 
and which is to come. This embraces 
the past, present, and future ex- 
istence, and proves beyond doubt that 
Christ is Jehovah himself; for this is 
the identical meaning of the Hebrew 
word composed of. W Ye he, he shall 
be, and rpfl ha yah, he is, he was, 
the great I Am, self existent, unorigi- 
nated, and eternal Jehovah. Exodus, 
3 : 14. In Psalm 23 : 1, he is styled 
H-V^ Ye-ho-uah ro-e, Jeluvah, 
my Shepherd. Christ applies this ti- 
tle to himself — I am the good Shep- 
herd, pastor, minister, the door of the 
sheep, the life, the truth, and the way. 
Hence " the voice of one crying in 
the wilderness, prepare ye the way of 
Jehovah.'''' (Jesus.) Here then is a. full 
demonstration of his divinity. Hence 
the holy and blessed God said to Mo- 
ses, I am he that is, he that was, and 
he that is to come (in the flesh.) Sher- 
moth Rab. sec. 3, fol. 73-2, 



The seven spirits. The ministering 
spirits of the seven churches of Asia. 

5 The faithful witness. A title of 
the Messiah ; hence oo-me-hc-min 
for a true and faithful witness. Tar- 
gum on Jer. 42:5. He is a faith- 
ful witness " against sorcerers, adul- 
terers, false swearers, and those that 
oppress the hireling in his wages, the 
widow and the fatherless, and them 
that turn the stranger aside from his 
right. Mai. 2 : 5. 

The fir si-leg otten of the dead. The 
first fruits of them that slept : for 
since by man came death, by man 
came also the resurrection of the dead ; 
for as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive, that 
is, be raised again from the grave 
in the general resurrection at the last 
day, when " some shall rise to the re- 
surrection of life and others to the re- 
surrection of damnation." 

The Prince of the Icings of the 
earth, or more properly, B^jp ^1^2 
the King of the princes of the earth, 
Hos. 8-10. Thrones and dominions, 
principalities and powers, are all sub- 
ject to him : he is the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords, the creator and up- 
holder of all things : for " he has all 
power in heaven and in earth." " He 
can create and he destroy." He heal- 
ed the sick, cleansed the lepers, rais- 
ed the dead, cast out devils, burst the 
bands of death, ascended on high, led 
captivity captive, and received gifts 
for the rebellious, even the sons of men, 



14 



NOTES ON THE 



6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and 



Unto him that loved us. This lie 
demonstrated by dying for us rebels, 
the just for the unjust, to bring us to 
God. 

" O for this love, let rocks and hills 

" Their lasting silence break, 

" And all harmonious human tongues 

" The Savior's praises speak. 

" Angels, assist our mighty joys, 

" Strike all your harps of gold, 

<: But when you raise your highest notes, 

" His love can ne'er be told." 

To love is to yield up the heart or 
life to the object of our affections, but 
Christ gave his life for his enemies, 
his very murderers. Is there then ano- 
ther instance of such disinterested be- 
nevolence on record ? We presume not. 

And washed us from our sins. That 
is from the guilt and pollution of sin, 
all the filthiness of flesh and spirit. 
This was typified under the law by 
the washing and cleansing of sacrifices 
on the altar before they were ofTered 
by the priest.* 

In his own Mood. Not in water, nor 
by the washing of water : this cannot 
take away sin, but " the blood of Je- 



sus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth 
from all sin." 1 John, 1 : 7. And with- 
out the shedding of blood, and the ap- 
plication of it, there can be no remis- 
sion of sins. Baptism is the outward 
and visible sign of the inward and spi- 
ritual grace, that is, regeneration. A 
sign cannot be the thing signified, nor 
can the shadow be the substance. If 
baptism, therefore, is regeneration, we 
are justified by the deeds of the law, 
which is impossible if the Bible be 
true. The rabbins assert that no priest 
can officiate in the sanctuary until he 
washes himself in water ten times from 
head to foot. He then wipes himself, 
and puts on the white garments. 
Mishna Yoma, chapter 3, sec. 3, 4. 
This evidently shows that no man is 
fit to minister in holy things but he 
whose sins are all washed away in 
the blood of the Redeemer. 

6 And hath made us kings. They 
were spiritual kings, to rule with 
meekness and mildness the church of 
the living God. Christ has never 
as yet placed a proud, haughty min- 



* Moses washed Aaron with water, and dipped his finger in the blood of atonement, and 
then put the blood on \ns right ear, and on the tip of the thumb of his right hand, and on 
the great toe of his right foot, and this was done before he officiated in public. Lev. 8 : 
&c. This was to show Aaron and all his posterity that no person is fit for the ministry 
but he whose sins are washed away in the blood of the atonement ; and it also indicated 
that it was necessary to be washed from head to foot. Our Lord himself fulfilled this a 
short time before his death. See John, 13:9. He told his disciples if he washed them 
not, they had no part in him ; he first washed them with water outwardly, and after this 
washed them inwardly in his own precious blood. This was the substance of what was 
shadowed under the law ; and from this we may learn that no man who is not washed in 
the blood of the Lamb of God, and called to the office of the ministry by the Spirit of God, 
is fit for it. 



REVELATION, y$ 

his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and 
ever. Amen. 



ister over his little flock to rule them. 
He has chosen the poor of this world, 
4 ' rich in faith, and heirs of the king- 
dom." You see your calling, brethren ; 
how that not many wise men, (after 
the flesh,) not many mighty, (in learn- 
ing,) not many noble, (of high birth) 
are called. But God hath chosen the 
foolish things of this world, (plain, 
simple, illiterate men,) to confound the 
wise, (philosophers,) and the weak 
things of this world, (poor, unlettered 
men') to confound the things that are 
mighty, (in learning and eloquence,) 
and base things of this world, (fish- 
ermen,) and things that are despised 
(by scribes and pharisees,) yea, and 
things that are not, (of wealth and 
influence,) to bring to nothing things 
that are, (men of great note and great 
repute;) that no flesh might glory 
in the presence of God." 1 Cor. 1 : 
26-29. The Jewish doctors are called 
Mai cliai to rah, kings, priests of the 
law, hence the word of Jehovah shall 
constitute you kings, Targ. Jonath on 
Deut. 28 : 13, servants of the true ta- 
bernacle, which the Lord pitched, and 
not man. As priests under the law 
had to trace out their pedigree to 



Aaron the high priest, all ministers 
of the gospel must trace out their spi- 
ritual origin to Jesus, our great high 
priest. And as they are kings as well 
as ministers of the sanctuary, they 
must be born of the royal blood, " born 
again, born from above, of water and 
the Holy Ghost," begotten again to a 
lively hope through the resurrection 
of Jesus from the dead. "No man 
taketh this honor to himself but he 
that is called of God, as was Aaron." 
Heb. 5 : 4.* 

The Sanhedrin, in examining can- 
didates for the priesthood in reference 
to their genealogy and defects of both 
body and mind, rejected every person 
who could not trace out his pedigree 
to Aaron, the high priest. If found 
deficient in any respect, he was dis- 
carded, and a black vail put over his 
face, and ever after denominated the 
degenerate priest ; but he who was 
approved by the council was clothed 
with white linen, and freely admit- 
ted into the office of the ministry. Tah 
Bab. Yoma, fol. 19 : 1. White is the 
banner of the prince of peace, black 
that of the prince of the power of the 
air ; one is the emblem of purity, the 



* They were spiritual kings to rule over the church, and priests to intercede with God 
in behalf of it, and to pray to him to atone for their offences ; also they were to present 
the prayers of the church before God in the golden censor. See chap. 8 '. 3. The sons of 
Aaron were obliged, first to officiate as junior, and then senior priests, and after this they 
obtained the high priesthood in regular succession. They were then both kings and priests 
for the service of God ; but the ministers of Christ are kings by birth, for Christ, the King 
of Glory, has begotten them by his own blood, 



16 



NOTES ON THE 



7 Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall 
see him, and they also which pierced him : and all kin- 
dreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so } 
Amen, 



other of impiety. Both colors were 
first blended in the inquisition of Rome, 
white, albo, when saying mass, to 
show the purity and piety of the 
church ; black when passing sentence 
of condemnation on heritics, to show 
she power of it. Black is not, as ma- 
ny suppose, academical ; it has a 
different origin. White is still worn in 
the celebration of mass, black in the 
pulpit where heretics are condemned, 
as a judicial act. This practice crept 
into the English courts from the court 
of Rome ; when the judge is trying a 
case of life and death he wears a scar- 
let gown ; when passing sentence of 
death, he takes this off and puts on the 
black gown and black cap. Unfor- 
tunately, the black gown is still con- 
tinued to be worn by ministers of the 
protestant churches when they enter 
the pulpit. Surely they do not do 
this to curse heretics, and therefore 
it should be discontinued, especially 
considering how and where it origi- 
nated. 

Goal and his Father. They were 
constituted, appointed, set apart, by 
Christ himself, for the service of the 
sanctuary, and to him they must look 
for their final and eternal reward. He 
has never appointed any man to the 
priest's office to eat a morsel of bread 
or fill his pocket with money ; he has 
placed him there to save souls, and 
not to fleece them. Wo to the idle 
shepherd who feeds himself and not 



the flock of Christ ! It would be good 
for that man if he had never been born. 
But the pious, holy, zealous minister 
of Jesus, who is laboring night and 
day to save sinners, will have an eter- 
nal weight of glory. Go on, my dear 
brother, in the good old way of sav- 
ing souls, and God will reward you 
abundantly ! 

To him be glory. As our prophet, 
priest, and king. Glory signifies fear, 
honor, reverence, adoration. He was 
a prophet, to teach us the way of life 
and salvation ; " a light, to lighten the 
Gentiles, and the glory of his people 
Israel ;" a priest, to atone for and take 
away the sins of the world, to bear 
them in his own body on the tree ; a 
king, to rule in and reign over us, and 
bring us off more than conquerors over 
the world, the flesh, and the devil ; 
to him therefore be glory, might, ma- 
jesty, dominion, and power, for ever 
and ever, amen, and amen ! 

7 Behold, he cometh with clouds. 
That is, of angels as well as armies, 
to utterly destroy his enemies, who 
would not have him to reign over 
them. He does not come now as the 
prince of peace, but as the lion of the 
tribe of Juda, to tear in pieces and 
utterly destroy his enemies, and fight 
the bloody battle of Harmageddon. 
Ez. 38 : 9. 

Every eye shall see him. Jew and 
Gentile, young and old, bond and free, 
rich and poor, soldier and sailor, min- 



REVELATION. 



17 



8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end- 
ing, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which 
is to come, the Almighty. 

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in 



ister and member : they shall gaze on 
him with wonder and astonishment. 

" Every eye shall now behold him, 

" Rob'd in dreadful majesty, 
" Those who set at naught and sold him, 

"Pierc'd and nail'd him to the tree, 
" Deeply Wailing, 
" Shall the true Messiah see.'' 

And they also which pierced him. 
The priests and the people, Jews and 
Grentiles, who put him to death, and 
who still crucify him afresh, and put 
him to open shame. Matt. 26 : 3. 

And all the kindreds of the earth 
shall wail ( weep bitterly ) because of 
him. When they shall see him come 
in the clouds of heaven, with power 
and great glory, to take vengeance on 
the wicked, and all them who obey 
not his holy gospel. " For they shall 
be punished with everlasting destruc- ' 
tion from the presence of the Lord, 
and the glory of his power." They 
will say to the mountains "fall onus, 
and to the hills, hide us from the face 
of hirn that sitteth on the throne, and 
the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great 
day of his wrath is come, and who 
shall be able to stand ?" Kindreds 
mean Jews and proselytes. See Ez. 
11 : 15. 

8 I am Alpha and Omega. That is, 
the beginning and end, viz. of crea- 
tion, the first and the last, he that 
stands at the head of all creation, and 
must reign until all things are subdued 

3 



unto' himself, who is before all things, 
and by him all things consist. Col. 
1 : 17. But if a created being, God 
was before him, and St. Paul must 
have been mistaken; but Paul was 
well acquainted with his character by 
inspiration, and it is presumption to 
set up our ipse dixit in opposition*to 
that of the apostle. 

Alpha and Omega are expres- 
sions derived from the Rabbinical 
writings. Rabbi Samuel studied all 
the law, from Aleph to Tav. Abraham 
and Sarah studied all the law, from 
Aleph to Tav, that is, from beginning 
to end. These establish the whole 
law, from Aleph to Tav. Rab. Joseph 
on Ez. 9 : 16. 

The Almighty. The real 
Shad-dy, Omnipotent Jehovah, who 
has all power in heaven and on earth, 
personal and not delegated, for God 
cannot delegate his power to a crea- 
ture, and at the same time be the Crea- 
tor himself ; he cannot divest himself 
of any of his attributes, and impart 
them to an inferior person ; a creature 
could not sustain the omnipotence and 
omniscience of the Deity. They be- 
long to him exclusively, and form 
part of his divinity. They are his, 
and like Saul's armor, cannot be 
worn by an inferior person. So that 
Christ, therefore, is the true God and 
eternal life. 

9 Your brother. In Christ, and in 
the ministry, we are children of the 



18 



NOTES ON THE 



tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus 
Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word 
of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 



same parents. God is our Father, the 
church our mother, heaven our home, 
and our badge of discipleship this, 
that "we love one another with a pure 
heart fervently." May we all love 
each other more, and serve God bet- 
ter than we have done. 

And companion in tirbulation. In 
affliction, persecution, and poverty. 
God has chosen his people in the fur- 
nace of affliction. It is here he puri- 
fies, refines, and prepares them for glo- 
ry, immortality, and eternal life. " It 
is through much tribulation we must 
enter the kingdom of heaven." Moses 
"chose rather to suffer affliction with 
the people of God than to enjoy the 
pleasures of sin for a season," esteem- 
ing the reproach of Christ greater 
riches than the treasures of Egypt ; 
knowing that in heaven he had more 
durable substance." 

In the kingdom and patience of Je- 
sus Christ. That is, in the christian 
religion. This kingdom is directly the 
opposite of all other kingdoms ; it is 
the stone cut out of the mountain with- 
out hands, and will utterly destroy, 
subdue and break down all the king- 
doms of the earth. The king himself 
was an extraordinary person, without 
houses, lands, tenements, heredita- 
ments, money, men, soldiers, sailors, 
armies, ships, boats, guns, cannons, 
pistols, swords, crown, sceptre, or 
any weapon of defence, and yet he 
conquered the whole world; but it 
was by love. Csesar, Alexander, and 



Bonaparte subdued kingdoms by 
force, fraud, war, and bloodshed, but 
Christ established his kingdom by 
" peace on earth, and good will to 
men." He is the king immortal, in- 
visible, the only wise God, our Sa- 
vior : to him be all honor and glory, 
both now and for ever ! 1. Then his 
kingdom is not temporal, but spiritual, 
it is righteousness, peace, and joy in 
the Holy Ghost. 2. It is universal, it 
extends from the rivers to the ends of 
the earth. 3. It is permanent, it is an 
everlasting kingdom, which shall not 
pass away. The kingdoms of the 
Medes, Persians, Greeks, Romans, 
and that of Israel, have all tottered, 
fallen, and crumbled into dust ; but his 
kingdom is the same yesterday, to-day 
and for ever. 4. The subjects of this 
kingdom are the poor, the maimed, the 
halt, and the blind. 5. Its ambassa- 
dors fishermen, without money, learn- 
ing, influence, or even a good coat on 
their back. 6. Its weapons are spi- 
ritual, and mighty, through God, to 
the pulling down of the strong holds 
of Satan. 7. Its enemies are the 
world, the flesh, and the devil. 8. The 
gospel is his law, by which he rules 
the world and will judge it at the last 
day. 9. He is the most just, humble, 
and impartial king that ever sat on 
a throne. He chose all his officers 
from among his soldiers ; ln3 captains, 
colonels, generals, and princes, were 
made such from the house of com- 
mons, and not from the house of lords. 



REVELATION. 



19 



10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard 
behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 



They were raised from the bench, 
loom, fishing-boat, tannery, plough, 
and from keeping sheep; "raised 
from the dunghill to be princes 
among his people." 10. Final- 
ly, Christ must reign until he hath 
put down all authority and power un- 
der his feet, and the last enemy that 
shall be destroyed is death. " Then 
cometh the end, when he shall deliver 
up the kingdom (as Mediator) to God, 
even the Father." 1 Cor. 15 : 24-26.* 
Isle of Patmos. A barren island in 
the iEgean sea, not far from Melita, 
(Acts, 28 : 1,) celebrated in history 
as the place where St. John was ban- 
i shed by the emperor Nero, about the 
year of our Lord 65, viz. in the time 



of a general persecution of the chris- 
tians by that wicked monarch. See 
chap. 12 : 7. Patmos is about ten 
miles in length, five in breadth, and 
twenty-eight in circumference. The 
place now contains about four thou- 
sand inhabitants. The cave in which 
the holy apostle resided is still to be 
seen by travellers. 

The Word of God. The gospel of 
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

And the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
That he is the true Messiah, and the 
true (supreme) God and eternal life, 
in whom dwelleth all the fulness of* 
the Godhead bodily, f 

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's 
day. His mind was intensely fixed on 



* Our Lord told Pilate his kingdom was not of this world ; if my kingdom, said he 9 
" was of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the 
Jews." John, 18 : 36. But though he wa3 the King of kings, and Lord of lords, yet he 
had not where to lay his head ; he depended on the liberality of others for food and clothes ; 
the salvation of poor sinners was of more importance to him than his meat and drink : our 
Savior was very thankful for a piece of a barley loaf and a broiled fish, and so it was with 
his apostles, it was more than their meat and drink to do the will of him that sent them to 
preach the gospel ; and when they went out, it was without money, or even the second 
coat to their back, or shoes on their feet, or provisions for the second meal ; the " laborer 
(he said) Avas worthy of his hire," that is, he was worthy to be fed and clothed by those 
whom he was striving to save. They were like Moses, " chose rather to suffer affliction 
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." See Heb. 9 : 25. 
Blessed is the minister or member who treads in their steps, his reward will be great in 
the life to come. 

t This was considered as high treason by Nero, who was king of the Jews, and always 
afraid of a rival in the government; and it being affirmed by many witnesses that Christ 
was still alive after his crucifixion, it made him the more afraid of being dethroned than 
ever; no doubt it was for affirming that Jesus was the Christ that John was banished 
to the island of Patmos. See Acts, 17 : 7. 



20 



NOTES ON THE 



11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the 
last : and, What thou seest write in a book, and send it 
unto the seven churches which are in Asia ; unto Ephesus, 
and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyati- 
ra, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto 
Laodicea. 

12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. 
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks ; 



spiritual and heavenly things on this 
blessed day, that is, the christian Sab- 
bath, which has been kept holy by the 
church from the very day on which 
our Savior rose from the dead, and is 
a memorial of his resurrection. It was 
then he ended the work of redemp- 
tion. Therefore all christians are under 
obligations to keep this day holy ; 
' ' not to think their own thoughts, nor 
speak their own words." The Jewish 
Sabbath and the Jewish Passover 
have been both abolished by Christ 
himself, and the christian Sabbath and 
the eucharist instituted in their place. 
They were only shadows of good 
things to come, and the substance is 
of Christ. The church universally, 
from the very commencement, assem- 



bled on the Lord's day for public wor- 
ship. See Acts, 1 : 14. Justin Mar- 
tyr, and Tertullian both assert that 
this day was kept holy by the church 
and by the apostles from the begin- 
ning. He who keeps every day a sab- 
bath, keeps no day as such ; he is 
worldly minded, loving the mammon 
of unrighteousness ; and wealth gained 
by Sabbath-breaking melts away like 
snow before the sun.* 

11 Alpha and Omega. See v. 8. 

12 Seven golden candlesticks. The 
seven churches of Asia They are 
compared to gold, because brilliant, 
glorious, precious, valuable. They 
are called candlesticks, because lumi- 
naries of the heathen world. f See 
chap. 21 : 24. Zach. 4 : 2. 



* If you call yourself a christian, and violate the Sabbath, you have not the love of God 
in your heart. But you ask, are there not works of necessity ? Certainly, but these come 
but very seldom, not every Sabbath. It is not a work of necessity to bake bread, butcher 
and sell meat, to sell fruit or milk, on this day, for these all can be bought on the day be- 
fore the Sabbath. See Exod. 20 : 10. Isa. 58 : 13. 

t There were three things in the Jewish temple wonderful indeed — the candlestick, the 
table of shew bread, and the altar of incense. The candlestick had seven golden branches, 
with lamps upon the top of them, and these all rested in one large golden socket, into 
which the oil was poured, and from which all the rest received a supply ; and when these 



REVELATION. 



21 



13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like 
unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the 
foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 



13 In the midst of the seven can- 
dlesticks. The spiritual paradise ' 
of God, in which the Savior is con- 
tinually walking. "Where two or 
three are met together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them." 
God was supposed to dwell perpetual- 
ly in the Jewish temple. Christ, our 
God, has promised to be in and with 
his church until time shall be no more. 
Matt. 28 : 20. 

One like the Son of man. He was 
so brilliant, glorious, sublime, majes- 
tic, that John scarcely knew him ; 
and if faithful, we shall be like him, 
for we shall see him as he is, and eve- 
ry man " that hath this hope in him 
purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 
John goes on now to describe our great 
high priest in his holy garments. 

Clothed with a garment. Of salva- 
tion. " His own arm brought salva- 
tion, and his right hand sustained him 
in this." His garment is like his coat, 
all of a piece, without seam from top 
to bottom. Gabriel himself could not 
sustain the salvation of a ruined world, 
it required omnipotence to accomplish 



this. If Christ be our Redeemer, he 
must be perfect God and perfect man, 
viz. to sustain his relation to God and 
man, and satisfy the demands of infi- 
nite justice. Hence he is "I^Sy"^ 
ail-giv-bor, the God-man. Is. 9 : 6. 
" Great is the mystery of godliness : 
God was manifest in the flesh," &c. 
"Will God indeed dwell on the earth ?" 
was the inquiry of Solomon. 1 Kings, 
8 : 27. "I know (says Job) that my 
redeemer (goale) liveth, and that in 
the latter day (end of the Jewish dis- 
pensation) he shall stand on the earth, 
and after my body is consumed God 
shall be manifest in my flesh, and I 
shall see him, and look to him for my- 
self, and not to a false redeemer, though 
my reins within me be consumed." 
Here, then, is a plain revelation of 
facts, that Christ should assume hu- 
man nature, die on the cross for our 
sins, and rise again from the dead for 
our justification. "I am Jehovah, 
(says he,) and besides me there is no 
Savior." Isaiah, 43 : 11. Without 
the shedding of blood there can be 
no remission of sin. The Deity 



were lit up, the branches and the socket being made of pure gold, without any mixture,, 
they made a wonderful light in the temple. See Zech. 4 : 2, and Josephus, War, book 5, 
5, 3. And so it was with these seven golden candlesticks, they were grafted into Christ, 
the golden socket, and the oil of divine grace dwelling richly in him, and being united to 
him by faith, they all received a fresh and a full supply daily ; and when blazing with zeal 
and love for the salvation of sinners, what a glorious light they must have made in the 
church when they came together to worship God. 



22 



NOTES ON THE 



14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as 
white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; 

15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned 
in a furnace ; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 

16 And he had in his right hand seven stars : and out 
of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword : and his 
countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 



could not be a Savior without as- 
suming the very nature that had 
sinned ; hence the blood of Christ is 
called the blood of God. Acts, 20 : 28. 
The Old Testament predicted that 
Christ should suffer in the flesh, and 
the New Testament has confirmed the 
fact that he has suffered in the flesh ; 
and if his enemies believe not Moses 
and the Prophets, (the law and the 
gospel,) neither would they believe 
though one rose from the dead. 

Girt about the paps with a gol- 
den girdle. That is, of righteous- 
ness ; it encompassed him as a girdle. 
Isaiah, 11:5, "He was made sin (a 
sin offering) for us, who knew no sin, 
and never was guile found in his 
mouth." "He was holy, harmless, 
undefiled, and separate from sinners, 
and exalted above the heavens." 

14 His head and his hairs were 
white like wool. An emblem of his pu- 
rity and holiness. The high priest, un 
der the law, wore a mitre of fine white 
linen bound round his head, with a 
gold plate, on which was inscribed 
" Holiness to the Lord ;" but our glo- 
rious High Priest is not only outward- 
ly but also inwardly holy in heart and 
in life, and in all manner of conversa- 
tion. He offered his soul, body, and 



spirit as a living sacrifice, holy, ac- 
ceptable, and well pleasing to God. 
See Exodus, 28 : 36. Dan. 8 : 9. 

His eyes as a flame of fire. To 
pierce and penetrate the very thoughts 
and intents of the heart. His eyes 
mean his ministers, who are as a 
flame of fire, through whom the Sa- 
vior looks into the hearts of all men. 
A minister who is cold, careless, indif- 
ferent, and uninteresting in the pulpit, 
has never been called of God to enter 
it. See Ps. 104 : 4. Heb. 1 : 7, 15. 
See chap. 5 : 6. 

15 And his feet like unto fine brass. 
Bright, burnished, luminous, precious. 
His feet seem to mean his disciples, 
who carried the Savior with them 
wherever they went. At this time 
they were in the fiery furnace of af- 
fliction or persecution, the very place 
where God purifies his children. O 
may we say continually, " thy will 
be done." 

16 In his right hand seven stars. 
The ministers of the churches of Asia, 
v. 20. They were protected by the 
right hand of his power. They are 
compared to stars, because of their 
brilliancy. They shine with peculiar 
lustre on a dark and benighted world, 
and this through the sun of righteous- 
ness. 



REVELATION, 



23 



17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And 
he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; 
I am the first and the last ; 

18 I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and behold, I 
am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell 
and of death. 



A sharp two-edged sword. The 
word of God, " which is more sharp 
and powerful than any two-edged 
sword, piercing even to the dividing 
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the 
joints and marrow, and is a discerner 
of the thoughts and intents of the 
heart."* Hebrews, 4 : 12. Hence 
H^Pl the sword of the law. Tar- 
gum. 

His countenance was as the sun. 
Clear, bright, glorious, luminous, ma- 
jestic, a sight too great and glorious 
for poor sinful man to behold ; f but 
when the earthly tabernacle is taken 
down, then we shall be with him for 
ever. 

17 Fell at his feet as dead. Hu- 
man nature could not sustain the glo- 
rious sight : he fainted, swooned away; 
but the Savior soon revived and set 
him on his feet again. 



18 I am h e that liveth. Though cru- 
cified and put to death on the cross, 
yet death has had no dominion over 
me. I have conquered the last enemy, 
and all my people shall conquer 
through me. Exclaim, " O death 
where is thy sting ? O grave, where 
is thy victory 1 Thanks be to God, 
who giveth us the victory, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." 

And have the keys of hell and of 
death. I have all power in heaven 
and on earth, and will finally cause 
death and hell to surrender up their 
dead, and all shall appear before my 
judgment seat to answer for the deeds 
done in the body ; and then the wicked 
shall be returned into hell, with all 
the nations that forget God. Ps. 9 : 
17. Rev. 20 : 19. The Rabbins say 
the keys of death are in the hands of 
the holy and ever blessed God ; there- 



* This is the only weapon of defence our Savior carried with him ; and with this he has 
pierced many a man to the heart, and made him cry out, God be merciful to me, a sin- 
ner. The Roman soldiers carried a short well tempered Spanish blade that had a double 
edge, which was sharp and powerful. Very probable this is the reason why the icord 
of God is compared to this sword, because it did such great execution, Three thousand 
were slain by it in one day. See Acts, 2 t 41. 

\ His countenance may mean his divinity. When he saw the rays of this through his 
humanity, it appeared to him like the sun in its full splendor. This he had a view of once 
before, when in the mount with our Lord. See Matt. 17 : 2. 



24 



NOTES ON THE 



19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the 
things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter ; 

20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest 
in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The 
seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the 
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven 
churches. 



fore Christ must be God. See Berai- 
shith Rab. sec. 73, fol. 64 : 3, 

19 Write the things which thou hast 
seen. That is, of the Old Testament 
prophecies which remained at that 
time to be fulfilled. 

And the things which are. The 
backslidings and corruptions which had 
crept into the seven churches of Asia. 



And the things which shall be. At 
the expiration of the thousand years, 
when the devil shall be let loose 
from his prison to deceive the nations 
which are in the four quarters of the 
earth, Gog and Magog. 

20 The seven stars. See verses 4 
and 16. 



CHAPTER II. 



Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write : These 



1 The angel of the church of Ephe- 
sus. ctyyixws the minister, messenger. 
Hence Wph Ma lack Ye ho 

wah. The messenger, ambassador of 
Jehovah, the minister or servant of the 
sanctuary ; the servant of all, the 
master of none. He who sits at the 
master's feet to receive his commands 
and to obey them. Probably the 



minister of this church was Timothy. 
See 2 Tim. 4 : 22. The high priest 
under the law was called rl^ffij Sha- 
le ach, the messenger of God, render- 
ed by the LXX et7rgoxxor compos- 
ed of clko from, and axKa> to send, 
viz. as a missionary or an ambassador 
of peace, or reconciliation, from 
we have Shiloh, the heavenlv 



REVELATION, 25 

things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right 



messenger, the apostle and high priest 
of our profession, he who was sent of 
God to redeem a lost and ruined 
world. John, 3 : 16. That is, Jesus, 
the Messiah, who was crucified in the 
flesh 1800 years since, but now lives 
in the spirit at God's right hand, to 
intercede for us. As to the church, 
it means the congregation of the just, 
upright ; that is, a congregation of 
christian believers, who have been born 
again of the water and the Holy 
Ghost. See John, 3:5. Ps. 1 : 5. It 
certainly does not mean a congrega- 
tion of catholics, protestants, pres- 
byterians, methodists, baptists, lu- 
therans, calvinists, moravians, or 
quakers; but the general assembly 
and church of the first-born, whose 
names are written in heaven, who ac- 
knowledge Christ to be head of the 
church, God over all, and blessed for 
ever ; in whom dwelleth all the fulness 
of the God-head bodily. Holiness 
may be written on your altars and 
windows, but unless written on your 
hearts it will profit you nothing. 
God looks on the heart and not on the 
outward appearance. He is a Spirit, 
and will have none to worship him 
but those who worship him in spirit 
and in truth. 

But what motive have you in view 
in going to church ? Is it pure or im- 
pure, to serve God or to serve your- 
self? 1. Some go to church to hear a 
learned or eloquent minister. 2. 
Others go there to hear good music or 
excellent singing. 3. Many go there 
to associate with the rich and to shun 
the society of the poor. 4. Some go to 



church because money collections are 
not taken up on the Sabbath. They 
like the church very well, but do not 
wish to support it. 5. Others go 
there to redeem a lost character, per- 
haps to wipe off the stain of the bank- 
rupt act ; character to them is of more 
importance than the conversion of 
their poor souls. 6. Many go there 
because of gain ; they support the 
church because the church supports 
them. 7. Parents go to improve the 
morals and manners of their chil- 
dren, but they do not go to consecrate 
themselves and their children wholly 
to the service of God. 8. Members 
go to please the minister, and the 
minister goes to please the members ; 
and God is displeased with both of 
them. 9. Many go because brought 
up to the church ; they are birth 
members, who neither believe in nor 
dream of being born again before they 
can enter the kingdom of heaven. 
10. Some go to hear the scriptures 
elegantly read, but never read them 
themselves nor even teach them to their 
dear children ; they are very particu- 
lar to qualify them for life, but not for 
death ; for time, but not for eternity ; 
they will put a novel, a newspaper, 
or any other nonsensical book into 
their children's hands, but they never 
put the Bible into their hands. What 
a dreadful account must such parents 
give to God in the day of eternity. 
The Rabbins say, he that does not 
study the law has no faith and is a 
heathen. Zohar on Lev. fol. 33 : 2. 
And what must we think of those 
who do not study the gospel ? Surely 



26 



XOTES ON THE 



hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden can- 
dlesticks ; 



they are worse yet. 11. Others at- 
tend church because popular ; public 
opinion with them is every thing, is 
the standard of their piety. They 
carry out popular measures, but neg- 
lect every duty which God has en- 
joined on them. 12. Others join the 
church to become deacons, elders, 
leaders, stewards, trustees, &c. and if 
they cannot be head, they certainly 
will not be the tail. 13. Many go 
there to see and be seen. 14th. The 
husband goes there to please his wife, 
and the wife to please her husband, 
but neither go there to please God. 
15. The doctor and the lawyer go 
there to get practice, and the politi- 
cian to get votes. 16. The merchant 
and the mechanic go there to increase 
their business. 17. The chorister, 
organist, and unconverted minis- 
ter go there to get their salary. 
18. Finally, the genuine christian goes 
there to worship God in spirit and in 
truth, to save his soul and get to 
heaven at last. May the great head 
of the church lay around and beneath 
him the arms of his mercy. 

I wish to observe that my object is 
not to reflect on pious and useful men 
in the ministry, God forbid ; but simp- 
ly on those who have never been called 
of God to the office, whose only object 
is money, and not the conversion of 
souls. As to a genuine minister of 
Jesus, why, he is the most lovely, 
disinterested and devoted character on 
earth ; he would rather spend a thou- 
sand fortunes in the promotion of the 
cause of Ms Redeemer than to under- 



take preaching for worldly aggrandise- 
ment The ministry in the primitive 
church was plain, simple, sincere, 
unembellished with any popish ap- 
pendages, such as Rev. — Right Rev. 
— Rev. Father in Christ- — His Holi- 
ness the Pope — Bishop — Arch-Bish- 
op— Cardinal— D. D. — L. L. D.— 
A. M. — B. M.— The King's Chaplain, 
These honary distinctions were un- 
known to the poor fishermen of Galilee, 
Pope Peter, Prince of Italy, Austria, 
&c. ; the Right Rev. Arch- bishop 
Paul, the tent maker — would sound 
rather harsh to the church. These 
originated in the apostate church of 
Rome. The only titles known in the 
church of Christ were servants of the 
church, ministers of Jesus. The call 
to the ministry ; this is of Christ, 
the great head of the church. Hence, 
I have chosen you, and ordained (ap- 
pointed) you myself to the office of 
the ministry, and I shall be with you 
in this respect till time shall be no 
more. No man, no, not either Peter or 
Paul, shall ever take this power out 
of his hands ; therefore it is impious 
for any man to say to another, have 
thou authority to preach the gospel. 
This is downright popery. See John, 
15:16; Acts, 1:24; Heb. 5: 4. The 
qualification is of God and not of 
man. St. Paul, with all his learning, 
received not his gospel from men, 
neither was he taught it by man, but 
by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Gal. 
1 : 12. ,< TheHoly Spirit shall teach < 
you all things, and bring all things 
to your remembrance, whatsoever I 



REVELATIONS. 



27 



Lave said unto you.'* The same Spirit 
said separate tome Paul and Barnabas 
for the work of the ministry, where- 
unto / have called them. John, 14 : 
16 ; Acts, 13 : 2. Where, then, we 
ask, is the boasted apostolic succes- 
sion of the church of Rome ? The a- 
postles had no power nor authority 
to appoint any man to be their suc- 
cessor in the ministry ; this is vested 
in the great head of the church him- 
self. It is the height of arrogance and 
folly for any man, pope, or prelate, 
to claim to be the successor of St. 
Peter. We shall ask these men three 
questions, and will give them until 
the general resurrection to answer 
them. Where did Peter appoint his 
successor ? When did he appoint 
him ? And in the presence of what 
witnesses did he appoint him to be 
such ? 

The doctrines of the gospel. Repent- 
ance and remission of sins; justification 
and sanctification ; a change of heart 
that produces a change of life ; the 
fall of man, his restoration to the 
favor of God through our Lord Jesus ; 
the divinity of Christ, that he is God, 
and besides him there is no Savior; 
that there are three who bear record 
in heaven, the Father, the Word and 
the Holy Spirit, and that these three 
are one in wisdom, honor, power, 
glory, and endless duration ; that sal- 
vation is free for all, Jew and Gentile ; 
that God is not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should re- 
pent and live ; that all scripture is 
given by the inspiration of God, and 
is the only rule of our faith and guide 
of our life ; that there will be a 
general resurrection of both the righ- 
teous and the wicked ; that this 
corruptible shall put on incorruption, 



and this mortal put on immortality ; 
and that every man shall be rewarded 
and punished according to the deeds 
done in the body, whether they be good 
or bad ; finally, that there is a fixed 
and distinct place of future and eternal 
happiness, and a fixed and distinct 
place of future and eternal misery, 

Inferences. — 1. We see therefore 
that every thing in the primitive church 
of Christ was plain, simple, and un- 
adorned . The titles of Rev. and Right 
Rev. originated in the apostate church 
of Rome, and should be discarded, as 
I before observed, by every pious and 
humble christian. Reverend comes 
from 5*^P ya-ra. To fear, dread, re- 
vere, adore, worship, obey. Arab. To 
shrink, fly back, be confounded, awed 
into fear as when coming into the 
presence of a king or a great person- 
age. Rabbi David. To serve, wor- 
ship, adore, as God. It is one of the 
distinguishing titles of the Deity, 
and to apply it to a creature, to call a 
minister reverend, is precisely the 
same as to call the pope God. A 
minister, servant of Christ, an apostle, 
are the only titles known in the 
primitive church. A Jewish Rabbi 
stated to me, a short time since, that 
he was invited to a christian church 
by the Mayor of this city. The 
preacher, he observed, dealt largely 
on the humility, patience, meekness, 
and sufferings of Christ. WTien he 
came down from the pulpit he was 
introduced to me as the Rev. J. S. 
I shrunk back at the expression, and 
told him, Sir, reverend is a title of God 
and not of man, and it is impious to 
apply it to a creature. I am sure 
your Messiah, (who was my brother 
Jew,) nor one of his ministers, were 
never called Reverend because the 



28 



NOTES ON THE 



Jewish law forbid it. We consider it 
impious and idolatrous to do it. This 
needs no comment. 

2. There was no college or theologi- 
cal seminary connected with this or 
any of the seven churches of Asia. 
3. Therefore the people could not 
manufacture their own ministers. The 
Savior has called, qualified, and com- 
missioned his ministers to preach the 
gospel. 4. Learning ivithout piety 
has been the curse of the church in all 
ages, the cause of all the isms and 
schisms in the world. The cry of the 
English church, some years since, 
was, " give us a learned ministry." 
They tried the experiment ; the con- 
sequence was empty pews, and mo- 
dern papisy. The cry at present is, 
throughout England, Ireland, and 
Scotland, " Send us evangelical 
ministers, or the church of England 
must fall !" 5. Christ's college is 
his church, and his text book of 
theology the Bible. The greatest, 
the best, and holiest men that ever 
lived have graduated in the church. 
Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and John, 
took their diplomas in it. Three 
thousand were converted under one ser- 
mon of Peter's. Paul converted nearly 
the whole Roman empire to Chris- 
tianity, and Apollos built them up on 
their most holy faith. John, the fish- 
erman of Galilee, wrote the Revelation, 
a book so profound, so spiritually learn- 
ed, that the most erudite doctors of di- 
vinity in the universe have been dis- 
puting about the meaning of it from 
his time to the present moment. 
Where then is the wise, (the learned,) 
the scribe, (elegant writer,) the dis- 
puter, (doctor of divinity,) — hath not 
God (our Savior) made the foolish 
(fishermen) the wisdom of this world. 



That is, the ablest, wisest, and best 
ministers in the world. 1 Cor. 1 : 
20. And is he not the same yester- 
day, to-day, and for ever. 6. The 
members of the church were of one 
heart and one mind, and all on equal 
footing; the master and the servant, 
minister and member, prince and 
peasant, sat down to the one commu- 
nion table together, because taught 
that God is no respecter of persons. 
Ps. 119 : 63. 7. They did not go to 
church to make money, but to spend 
it on the poor and the gospel. Go 
thou and do likewise. 8. They did not 
go there to hear fine music and elegant 
and systematic singing ; the harp of 
salvation was their only instrument 
of music. Their song was redeeming 
grace and dying love ; they sung this 
with the spirit and the understanding 
also, 9. To become a member was not 
to become minister, elder, deacon, 
steward, trustee, leader, exhorter, &c. 
but to die for the name of Jesus, to 
count their lives not dear to them so 
that they might but win Christ and 
reach heaven. 10. Not one of them 
were born church members ; they were 
all born again before admitted into 
the church. 11. They all met regu- 
larly twice every Sabbath, to do good 
and get good. 12. Finally, the 
minister preached the gospel free- 
ly, zealously, energetically, to all, 
and was burdensome to none. See 
Acts, 20 : 33, 34, 35. Go thou and 
do likewise, and thy reward will be 
great in heaven. We come now to an- 
other point — conversion. This means 
to be transformed, or turned inside out, 
to make a new man out of an old one ; 
to be created anew in Christ Jesus, 
so as to be holy in heart, in life, and 
in all manner of conversation, for none 



REVELATION. 



29 



2 I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, 
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil ; and 
thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are 
not ; and hast found them liars ; 

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's 
sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. 



but the pure in heart shall see God. 
The decree of heaven is that " Sin- 
ners shall not stand in the congregation 
of the righteous." Ps. 1 : 5. A sin- 
ful, unholy act will exclude a man 
from the kingdom of grace here, 
and the kingdom of glory hereafter. 
There is no distinction between the 
act in general and the act in par- 
ticular ; he that offends in one point 
is guilty of all, and he who will not 
give up all and every thing for 
Christ's sake, cannot be his disciple. 

Seven stars and seven golden can- 
dlesticks. See chap. 1 : 13, 16. 

2 I know thy works. In the min- 
istry, and thy zeal for my glory and 
the conversion of sinners. 

And thy patience. Under all thy 
afflictions, persecutions, temptations, 
and sufferings. Thou art now in the 
furnace, where I will refine and 
purify thee and take away all the 
dross and base desire of sin, and then 
take thee home to glory, to exchange 
the cross for the crown. 

And how thou canst not bear them 
which are evil. Sinners, Sabbath break- 
ers, swearers, liars, drunkards, gam- 
blers, fornicators, extortioners, slan- 
derers, backbiters, proud, envious, 
haughty, imperious, covetous and con- 
temptuous men or women. 

And hast tried them who say they 



are apostles and are not. They pro- 
fessed publicly to be moved upon by 
the Holy Ghost to take on themselves 
the office of the ministry ; they had 
the semblance, at least, of piety, but 
when tried in the fire of persecution, 
they soon renounced Christianity, and 
denied the Lord who had bought them. 
How many thousands enter the minis- 
try without ever giving it a serious 
thought ! They do this either to please 
their friends or procure an easy and 
good living. But money made in this 
way will in the end prove a curse in- 
stead of a blessing. If a man is sure 
he is called to the office, and his only 
object is to save souls, let him enter 
on the work with fear and trembling, 
and trust in the strength of Jehovah, 
and he will sustain him in both soul and 
body. But if, on the other hand, he 
has neither a call to nor a qualifica- 
tion for the ministry, let him give it up, 
he will only be a stumbling block over 
which others will fall into perdition. 

3 And hast patience. Under all 
thy afflictions, temptations, and per- 
secutions. 

And hast labored. In word and 
doctrine, and for the salvation of the 
world, faithfully and zealously, with- 
out fee or reward. Paul, the greatest 
of all the apostles, labored with his 
own hands for his support and the sup- 



30 



NOTES ON THE 



4 Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because 
thou hast left thy first love. 

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, 
and repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come 
unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of 
his place, except thou repent. 



port of the poor, and even paid the 
rent of the house or church where the 
people met every Sabbath. See Acts, 
20 : 33, 34, 35. Maimonides asserts 
that the greatest and most learned 
doctors among the Jews were men who 
labored in various ways, as mechan- 
ics, with their own hands for their 
support, in order to have something 
to give the poor, and not to be burden- 
some to the synagogue. This was 
highly commendable among the Jews, 
but very unpopular among Gentiles, 
Do you mean, sir, says one, a mecha- 
nic to be a great preacher ? Oh yes, 
sir ; and the greatest and best in the 
world, for your Lord and Master was 
one ; and so was Paul, and Apollos, 
and thousands of others ; and we as- 
sert, without fear of contradiction, that 
all the colleges and theological semi- 
naries in the universe can never make 
a minister of Jesus Christ ; he is bi- 
shop of his own church, and must do 
the work himself, you can have neither 
part nor lot in the matter. You may 
make your son a lawyer, doctor, mer- 
chant, or mechanic, but you never can 
make him a minister of J esus. 

And has not fainted. He was weary 
in the work, but not weary of the 
work ; his faith did not give way or 
fail in the hour of trial. 

4 Nevertheless, I have somewhat 



against thee. He had lost his first love , 
his juvenile affection for Jesus; he 
backslid in heart, though not in life. 
The heart is what God wants, my 
brother, and not the life or the lip ; he 
cannot, he will not, admit of a rival in 
the heart ; it must be wholly devoted 
to him, or he will finally take his de- 
parture from it. The language of this 
minister no doubt was, 

Return, O Holy Dove, return, 

Sweet messenger of rest, 
I hate the sins that made thee mourn, 

And drove thee from my breast. 
The dearest idol I have known, 

Whate'er that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from thy throne. 

And worship only thee. 

5 Remember therefore. Considera- 
tion is the first step to the kingdom ; 
he that never considers his ways will 
never be wise unto salvation. This 
minister is now commanded to repent, 
retrace his steps, return to God, and 
begin, like the prodigal son, where he 
left off. He lost the evidence of his 
acceptance, brought spiritual darkness 
over his mind, and grieved the Holy 
Spirit of God, but he did not take his 
final departure from him, but strove 
with him at various times and in va- 
rious ways to restore him to his for- 
mer standing. 

Eepent. Turn to God with all thy 



REVELATION. 



31 



6 Bat this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the 
Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. 



heart, soul, mind, and strength, and 
weep thy life away for having griev- 
ed his love. The radical meaning of 
repent is to return to God, viz. with 
all the heart. See Isaiah, 55 : 7. 
Evangelical repentance means, 1. To 
renounce the hidden works of disho- 
nesty, all our sins, both public and 
private, for if we regard iniquity in 
our heart the Lord will not hear our 
prayer. 2. To confess them with an 
humble, penitent, and obedient heart, 
to the end that we may obtain forgive- 
ness of the same from the hand of Al- 
mighty God. 3. To feel that we are 
the chief of sinners, to see the beam 
in our own eye and not the mote in 
our brother's eye. 4. To give up our 
whole heart to God ; 

Our full consent, 
Our whole desires, 
Our undivided heart. 

5. If we have injured or defrauded 
any man, to make full restitution as far 
as we can. Luke, 19:8. 6. Deter- 
mination is the next step ; we may go 
to the very threshold of the door and 
never be able to enter in because of 
unbelief; therefore we must be deter- 
mined not to stop short of the evidence 
of pardon. 7. Finally, repentance that 



does not end in sound conversion is 
not genuine ; it needs to be repented of. 

And do thy first works. Such as 
his faith produced when first convert- 
ed, viz. " patience, long suffering, gen- 
tleness, meekness, goodness, temper- 
ance, brotherly kindness, charity," 
reading and searching the scriptures, 
visiting daily the poor from house to 
house, clothing the naked, feeding the 
hungry, relieving the distressed. 
Therefore repent and do these thy 
first works over again, or I will re- 
move thy candlestick, the church, out 
of its place, unto the care of a better 
pastor.* 

6 Thou hatest the deeds of the Ni° 
colaitanes. He hated sin in others, 
but did not avoid coldness, indifference 
and formality in himself. But who 
were these Nicolaitanes? And what 
doctrines did they hold ? These are 
very difficult questions to determine 
satisfactorily, at any rate. They were 
heretics, had separated from the church 
and denied the doctrines of Christiani- 
ty. The word is derived from fT§33 
Ne-co-lah, avaricious, covetous, glut- 
tonous. It is probable they got all 
they could, saved all they could, and 
gave away next to nothing, either to 
the poor or to the gospel. 



H 1. The Lord convinced this minister that he was in a backslidden state. 2. He ex- 
horts him to consider his ways. 3. To repent. 4. To do his first works over again. 
Lastly, he severely threatens him, that if he does not repent he will remove the church 
from Ephesus to some other place, and to the care of some other minister who is more 
holy than himself. This ought to be a warning to every minister who has the charge of a 
congregation. 



33 NOTES ON THE 

7 He that hath an ear. let him hear what the Spirit 



7 To him that overcomcth. The 
world, the flesh, and the devil ; the 
world, with all its allurements, plea- 
sures, vanities, dec. ; the flesh, with all 
the desires and lusts thereof ; the devil, 
with all liis insinuations, temptations 
and snares. 

Eat of. Partake of by faith, or 
have access to it, which Adam and 
Eve lost by unbelief : or shall have 
union and communion with the Fa- 
ther and with his Son Jesus Christ. 

The tree of life. The Savior of 
sinners, who is " the life, the truth, 
and the way :" he is the vine — we are 
the branches which derive life and 
spiritual sustenance from him. He has 
life temporal, spiritual, and eternal, in 
himself; he infused life and anima- 
tion into all creation ; he imparts spi- 
ritual life to all true believers ; and he 
finally will give eternal life to all them 
who obey him. He is, therefore, the 
life of the bod}' and the soul, the life 
of the believer, the world, and the 
church — the resurrection and the life, 
for he will raise both the quick and 
the dead at the last day. " Hence the 
tree of life means the Messiah." Zo- 
liar on Gen. fol. 33 : 3. 

The Paradise of God. The abode 
of the blessed, happy, pious, virtuous ; 
a garden of delight, pleasure, and pro- 
bation ; — the church militant, from 
which all genuine christians shall be 
finally transmitted to the church tri- 
umphant. The air of this lovely and 
charming spot is pure, the sun clear, 
the stars brilliant, sparkling like dia- 
monds ; the moon is a light to our feet 
and a lamp to our path, to guide us in 



the way of peace ; the trees are all 
loaded with golden fruit ; the fields are 
always verdant, and the roses bloom 
in summer and winter. The tree of 
life is there with its twelve maimer of 
fruits, and its leaves are for the heal- 
ing of the nations. The pure river of 
life runs through the midst of its streets 
and waters every plant in the garden. 

There generous fruits that never fail, 

On trees immortal grow ; 
There rocks and hills, and brooks and rales 

With milk aud honey now. 
Ko chilling winds nor poisonous breath 

Shall reach that healthful shore ; 
Sickness and sorrow, pain and grief 

Are feared and felt no more. 

Paradise literally has for ages past 
employed the pen of the poet and the 
philosopher, but its location has been 
hid from the eye of man since the ex- 
pulsion of Adam and Eve. It must 
have been located in some part of mo- 
dem Palestine, called "the garden of 
the Lord." It was here man sinned; 
and here the Savior died for us, the 
just for the unjust, to bring us to God. 
And is it not more likely that he suf- 
fered on the spot where man first sin- 
ned than in any other place ? Here 
probably man fell, here he rose again 
by the promise that " the Seed of the 
Woman should bruise the Serpent's 
head." Here that promise was veri- 
fied. Here Abraham offered up his 
only son Isaac. Here God gave his 
only-begotten son to die, (for man,) 
that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have eternal 
life. John, 3 : 16. Here God built 
his temple, and afterwards consumed 



REVELATION. 33 

saith unto the churches ; To him that overcometh will I 



it with fire because polluted by sin. 
Here lie established his church on his 
holy hill of Zion ; here he destroyed 
it because of unbelief in the Messiah. 
Here the Jews crucified the Son of 
God, and exclaimed " his blood be on 
us and on our children ;" and this curse 
is literally fulfilled upon them to the 
present ; they are without a city, tem- 
ple, altar, sacrifice, prophet, priest, or 
king ; with the visible marks of God's 
displeasure still resting on them ; a 
by-word and a proverb of reproach 
among men. Surely there must be 
some great cause of all this evil. 
Gethsemane may have been the place 
where man first disobeyed the divine 
command. Here probably man sin- 
ned ; here the Savior suffered for it. 
Here the curse was pronounced, " In 
the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat 
bread all the days of thy life until thou 
return unto the dust." Here the Sa- 
vior sweat great drops of blood to 
atone for that sin. Here the enemy 
tempted the second Adam, (the Lord 
from heaven,) and here no doubt he 
also tempted the first Adam. Here 
the serpent betrayed man ; here Judas 
betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of 
silver. A curse was pronounced on 
the serpent ; a curse was also pro- 
nounced on Judas, and the spot where 
he betrayed his master with a kiss is 
called to this day terra damnata. 
Here Adam was drove out of the gar- 
den of paradise ; from here Christ was 
dragged to Pilate's bar to be crucified, 
put to death in order to restore man 
to the favor of God. He was made 
sin (offering) for us, who knew no sin. 



There seems~to be many remarkable 
coincidences between the two places 
as mentioned in scripture, but it is 
evident this was not the birth place 
of man, but a select and secluded spot 
where God placed him after he had 
made him. E den is a distant place from 
the garden itself. Hence, " the Lord 
God planted a garden in the east part 
of Eden, and put the man there whom 
he had made." Gen. 2 : 8. Jerusalem 
answers the description better than 
any other place. It has been always 
considered a peculiar and holy place, 
a secluded spot. The garden was sit- 
uated on the east side of the Mediter- 
ranean sea, which indicates that para- 
dise was on the west side of it. It 
must have been one of the most de- 
lightful places in the world ; its fields 
and forests, lakes and lawns, orchards 
and vineyards, gardens and groves, 
rivers and fountains, hills and vales, 
have been celebrated in all ages by 
the historian as well as the poet. And 
no place on earth will answer this de- 
scription but Damascus and its lovely 
fields and forests. The following beau- 
tiful and sublime description, taken 
from a French author, will more fully 
illustrate my views on this subject. 
" Looking," he observes, " through 
the cleft of the rock, I beheld the most 
grand and singular prospect that ever 
presented itself to the eye of man. It 
was Damascus and its boundless de- 
sert, lying but a few hundred feet be- 
low us. The city, surrounded by its 
ramparts of black and yellow marble, 
flanked by its innumerable square 
towers, crowned by sculptured era- 



34 



XOTES ON THE 



give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the 
paradise of God. 



nies, commanded by its forests of mi- 
narets of every form, and intersected 
by the seven brandies of its river and 
its numberless streams : extending as 
far as the eye can reach, was a laby- 
rinth of gardens and flowers, extending 
its suburbs here and there into the 
plain encircled by its forests of ten 
leagues in circumference, and shaded 
by groves and sycamores and trees of 
every shape and form. From time to 
time the city seemed lost beneath the 
umbrageous canopies of the trees, and 
then again reappeared, spreading into 
broad lakes of houses, suburbs and vil- 
lages, interspersed with numerous or- 
chards, palaces, vineyards and stream- 
lets. Our eyes were bewildered, and 
only turned from one enchantment to 
fix on another. I have dreamed of 
Eden, but now I can say I have seen 
it." De La Martine. 

When Mahomed beheld it from a 
towering hill he was so enraptured and 
delighted with its rural appearance 
that he turned away his eyes from 
beholding the bewitching scene, and 
exclaimed, " I shall not enter there ; 
I wish to enter but one paradise, and 
that not an earthly but a heavenly 
©ne." He believed that the garden 
of Eden was located near the Mount 
of Olives, for the invisible bridge near 
there, he asserts, is the one over which 
all true believers must pass before 
they enter the heavenly paradise. 
And it is asserted in Jerusalem that 
the head of Adam was found in a 
hole in the very rock on which Christ 



was crucified, which proves, at least, 
that the inhabitants believe that Adam 
died there. Josephus asserts that 
Adam means a red man, because cre- 
ated from purras ges, red earth ; and 
this kind of red soil is to be found no 
where in Palestine but in the fields of 
Damascus. And the inhabitants and 
tradition state that Cain murdered his 
brother Able in one of these fields ; 
and the place is still pointed out to the 
stranger to this day. The river Par- 
par has three branches like the river 
of Eden ; and Parpar in Syriac, and 
tnfe Perath, in Hebrew, mean the 
same thing, to diffuse, branch, spread 
out. Why it is called Euphrates, I 
know not. The Hebrew, Syriac, and 
Samaritan, do not call it such. But 
the plains of Damascus extends as far 
as the Euphrates, so that Eden must 
have been in some part of this country. 
One branch of Parpar runs through the 
midst of the city, and waters every 
part of it. This probably is what John 
alluded to in chap. 22 : 2, where he 
represents the river of life as running 
through the midst of the street of the 
new and heavenly Jerusalem. Final- 
ly, we cannot form the most distant 
idea of what Palestine was in the 
days of our Savior from what it now 
is. Titus made Judea, the garden of 
the Lord, a wilderness, because of the 
transgression of the people, and the 
curse remains upon it to this day. The 
distance from Damascus to Jerusalem 
is about one hundred and fifty-six 
miles ; so that Adam could have very 



BEVELATTOX. 



35 



8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna, write ; 
These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, 
and is alive ; 

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but 
thou art rich,) and I know the blasphemy of them which 



readily found his way there. And 
what still confirms this opinion is, that 
after the Israelites first crossed over 
Jordan they came to a city called the 
city of Adam. Jos. 3 : 16. 

That was dead and is alive. That 
was crucified, dead, and buried, and 
who rose again from the dead the 
third day, ascended up into heaven, 
and who shall come again to judge 
both the quick and the dead at the 
last day. 

9 I know thy works. See v. 2. 

Tribulation. Deep distress, both 
of body and soul. It is through much 
tribulation we must enter the kingdom 
of heaven ; " if any man live godly in 
Christ Jesus he shall suffer persecu- 
tion ;" and a man's enemies shall be 
they of his own household.* 

But thou art rich. In faith and good 
works, and an heir of the kingdom ; 



his inheritance is incorruptible, unde- 
filed, and that fadeth not away, re- 
served in heaven for him. " He was 
little and unknown, loved and prized 
by God alone/' Poverty is conducive 
to piety, holiness, to happiness ; 
wealth, to profligacy, and is a clog 
and a curse to every man who does 
not use it to the glory of God. " How 
hardly shall they that have riches en- 
ter the kingdom of heaven." The beg- 
gar was taken from a barrow to glory ; 
the rich man from a bed of down to 
perdition. The one died shouting glo- 
ry to God in the highest ; the other 
died, no doubt, screaming for mercy, 
but did not obtain it. The Rabbins 
say a poor man is rich who has the 
law and lives according to it. He is 
rich, therefore, who has the gospel 
and lives according to its divine pre- 
cepts, f 



* What a great blessing to pious, afflicted and persecuted souls to know that they have 
a compassionate High Priest, who is touched with the feelings of their infirmities, and who 
has all their tears bottled up, and their sufferings written in the book of his remembrance ; 
and though you have to suffer with him here, yet you shall be glorified together with him 
hereafter. See Ps. 56:8. 

t It was one great consolation to this holy minister, that if he was poor in pocket, he 
was rich in grace ; his bank and his treasure were in heaven, a place where rust and moth 
doth not corrupt, and where thieves cannot break through and steal Blessed is the mau 
or the woman who is laying up treasure there ; when they re3t from their labors their 
works shall follow them, their reward is before them in heaven, 



3G NOTES ON THE 

say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of 
Satan. 



The blasphemy. Impiety, deceit, 
hypocrisy. 

Of them who say they are Jews and 
are not. 44 He is not a Jew who is one 
outwardly, but he is a Jew who is one 
inwardly ; and circumcision is that of 
the heart, in the spirit and not of the 
letter." They were the children of 
Abraham after the flesh, but not after 
the spirit ; they approved his works, 
but denied his doctrine. See Romans, 
2 : 28, 

But are of the synagogue of Satan. 
That is, the church of the devil. The 
mother and mistress of the whole 
world. He is the head of it himself — 
the prince and power of the air, who 
ruleth in the hearts of the children of 
disobedience. He is the best mimick 
in the world, he brings every thing so 
near the standard of piety that an or- 
dinary person can scarcely discern the 
distinction between moral good and 
moral evil. Christ admits none but 
genuine converts into his church. Dia- 
bolus discards all such from his church, 
as fanatics, madmen, or fools. He 
has his ministers and members, doc- 
trines and discipline, popes and cardi- 
nals, bishops and arch-bishops, princes 
and potentates, soldiers and sailors, 
army and navy, with which he has 
slain millions. He has missionary, 
bible, and tract societies ; and semi- 
naries of learning, where he makes 
ministers without number. One 
of his missionary societies of in- 
fidels will hold their world's conven- 
tion in New- York this month, (Octo- 
ber, 1845.) Delegates will be here, of 



course, from all parts of the world ; 
Asia, Africa, Europe, and America 
will be fairly and impartially repre= 
sented. We shall then have a full 
description of the religion of nature, 
as delineated by Wollaston. The 
members of this society are very par- 
ticular indeed to walk in all its com- 
mandments and ordinances blameless = 
They touch, taste and handle the un- 
clean thing; follow the desires of the 
flesh and mind, and are by nature 
children of wrath as well as others. 
The busts of Nero, Robespiere, Chau= 
mette, Fouch, will be there, and also 
that of Marat, who declared that to in- 
sure the liberties of France six hundred 
thousand heads must be taken ofT. 
The car of Juggernaut, the idol of 
Buddhu, (worshipped by all China ;) 
the god of poison, from the Fegee isl- 
ands ; the goddess of reason, from 
France ; the guillotine ; the inquisition 
of Spain; the gun-powder plot; the 
flames of Smithfield and Scullabogue ; 
barn in Ireland ; the bones of the two 
missionaries eaten up by the cannibals 
of Sumatra; the scalping knife and 
tomahawk of the Indian ; the fields of 
Waterloo and Leipsic, will all be re- 
presented and brought before the meet- 
ing, to show the excellency of the re- 
ligion of nature, and its superiority 
to that of the mild, pure, peace- 
able, and self-denying religion of Je- 
sus. The former is to be substituted 
by the convention for the latter. The 
magna charta of the society (from 
Scotland) will be submitted, also de- 
claring all nature to be God, death an 



REVELATIOX, 



37 



r 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt ssuffer 
Behold, the devil shall castsome of you into prison, that ye 



eternal sleep, the soul material, mar- 
riage mill and void, wealth common 
property, and that men and women 
may live as they like, and have 
promiscuous intercourse with each 
other if they think proper. Here then 
is a glance at Wollaston's religion of 
nature. What fool will believe in or 
submit to it ? The member from Afri- 
ca will have John Hawkins' charter 
for stealing men, women and children, 
and selling them into perpetual bond- 
age. John was a zealous infidel. The 
member from Scotland has been try- 
ing all his life to get this system of re- 
ligion established in some country, but 
never has as yet succeeded in any 
country. It has utterly exploded in 
England, Ireland, Scotland, France, 
and America ; it is now dead and bu- 
ried : God grant that we may never 
see or hear of it again. Amen. 

As to the doctrines of Diabolus, — 
baptism with him is regeneration ; 
justification by faith, is justification 
by works ; repentance, penance; faith, 
unbelief ; a change of heart, a change 
of life ; holiness, moral honesty ; par- 
don, is of the priest and not of God ; 
the Bible, priestcraft; the trinity, a 
wafer ; hell, purgatory ; heaven, free 
for all ; Christ, a man and not God, 
a creature and not the creator; the 
atonement, mass for the dead ; the 
eucharist, the soul, body, blood, and 
divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
must be eaten up literally without 
faith ; Payne, a philosopher ; Paul, a 
fool ; the pope, God ; Peter, the found- 
ation of the church: the English Bi- 



ble, heretical, and the Douay to be 
read only by the clergy ; the ministry 
learned, and not evangelical ; wealth, 
everything; piety, nothing ; the thea- 
tre, ball-room, card-table, wine-bottle, 
hunt, horse-race, innocent and neces- 
sary amusement to improve the mind 
and morals of his people, and are ra- 
ther qualifications for admission into 
his church ; the worship of images is 
the worship of God ; the church, a 
motley mixture of all classes, creeds 
and characters, that may live 
and act as they like, and he pro- 
mises to take them all to heaven at 
last. What a liberal soul he is ! 
Payne and Paul will, by and by, be 
companions for each other in glory. 
Finally, the wealth, as well as the in- 
fluence of the world is at his disposal, 
10 Fear none of these things. I 
will be with thee in six troubles, and 
in the seventh will not leave thee nor 
forsake thee. I was with Shadrach, 
Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery 
furnace ; with Daniel in the lion's 
den ; with Paul and Silas in the pri- 
son, and though they were in a filthy 
dungeon, and their feet made fast in 
the stocks, yet I delivered them by an 
earthquake, and I will deliver thee ; 
therefore "fear not, thou worm Ja- 
cob, for I am thy Savior and thy de- 
liverer ; a thousand shall fall at thy 
right hand and ten thousand on thy 
left, but none of these things shall 
come nigh thee." 

The devil will cast some of you into 
prison. Will induce some of his emis- 
saries to do it. but I will send my an- 



38 



NOTES ON THE 



may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be 
thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
life. 

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 



gel, and he shall deliver thee from the 
power and influence of the devil. See 
chap. 20 : 2. 

Tried. Your faith will now be put 
to the test, and like pure gold when 
put into the crucible, will come out 
more pure and perfect than before. 
The christian loses nothing by afflic- 
tion; it rather refines and purifies 
from the filthiness of flesh and spirit, 
and prepares the soul more fully for 
glory.* 

Ten days. A very short time. If 
your sufferings, my brother, are se- 
vere, they will be but short. The tide 
always ebbs, recollect, as well as 
flows. Ten days is a usual mode of 
expression among the Rabbins for a 
short time. They frequently put a 
certain for an uncertain number. 

Be thou faithful unto death. Death 
is a welcome messenger to the pious 



soul ; it puts a final period to all his 
sufferings in this life, and admits him 
into the paradise of God, where the 
wicked cease from troubling, and 
where the weary are at rest ; but we 
must endure the cross if we expect to 
wear the crown. Follow the Son of 
Man in the regeneration, that when 
he shall appear we may also appear 
with him in glory. It is he that en- 
dures to the end who shall be saved. f 
A crown of life. In exchange for 
a crown of martyrdom. The Savior 
was crowned with thorns on earth, but 
crowned with glory in heaven. The 
servant, therefore, should not be 
above his master. " If they called the 
master of the house beelzebub, surely 
they will do the same with the ser- 
vant." 

1 1 The Spirit saith to the churches, 
It is the Spirit that searcheth all 



* Your faith will now be tried in the fire of persecution, that it may be proved to have 
no mixture of error, and that the world may clearly see that the faith of a christian is su- 
perior to that of a Jew or a heathen. See Dan. 11 : 33, 34, 35. 

t The promises of God are all conditional; so, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
perish. See Luke, 13 : 3. And God has commanded all men to repent, that they may 
not perish. See Acts, 2 : 38, and chap. 17 : 30. And if they do not, they shall perish. And 
again, our Savior has said to the Jews, that if they did not believe him to be the Messiah 
they should die in their sins. See John, 8 : 24. But if they believed in him they should 
be saved from their sins, and their enemies. And this was the very reason why they were 
destroyed by the Roman army ; that is, because they would not (not because they could 
not) believe that Jesus is the Christ- And here God promises this minister a crown of 
life, but it is on this condition, if faithful unto death : and this clearly shows that there 
was a possibility of his not being faithful unto death, 



REVELATION. 



39 



saith unto the churches ; He that overcometh, shall not be 
hurt of the second death. 

12 And to the angel of the church m Pergamos write ; 
These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with 
two edges ; 

13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even 
where Satan's seat is : and thou holdest fast my name, and 
hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein An- 
tipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, 
where Satan dwelleth. 



things, yea the deep things of God. 
He reveals the mind and will of God 
to men. See chap. 1:8. He spake 
to the minister first, and then through 
him to the church. 

The second death. The Rabbins 
say there will be no second death to 
the righteous in the world to come ; 
that is, they will not suffer in the least 
degree either from the fear or fire of 
it.* 

12 Pergamos. A city on the river 
Caicus, about forty miles north west 
of Thyatira, and sixty three north 
of Smyrna. 



The sharp sword with two edges, 
See chap. 1 : 16. 

13 I know thy works. See v. 2, 

Where Satan's seat is. Where he 
rules and reigns in the hearts of the 
children of disobedience. 

And hast held fast my name. That 
is, my doctrines and divinity. He 
maintained, in public and in private, 
that Jesus is the Christ, the only Sa- 
vior of sinners, f 

And hast not denied my faith. He 
was steadfast, immovable, always 
abounding in the w'ork of the Lord, as 
he was sure his labor would not be in 



* In all our Lord has said to the minister of this church, he has not accused him in oae 
instance of stepping aside or doing- any thing improper in his sight, and if he had he would 
have reproved him as sharply as he did the rest of the ministers of those churches who 
were in some degree blameable. " Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the 
end of that man is peace." See Vs. 37 : 37. 

t This doctrine was directly the opposite of Judaism and Roman idolatry. The for- 
mer "believed that circumcision and keeping the law was sufficient to save them ; the latter 
that their gods could do it, and if in danger, sacrificed to them and prayed for aid in 
their present undertaking ; and if by any means their way was made clear through the 
present danger, they attributed it to the power of their gods. 



40 XOTES OX THE 

14 But 1 have a few things against thee, because thou 
hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who 



vain in the Lord. Therefore he kept 
the faith, viz. the gospel faith, that 
Jesus is the Messiah.* 

Antipas. Who this person was we 
know not ; his name is nothing, his 
martyrdom every thing. He died for 
Jesus, and he now reigns with him in 
glory. 

14 I ha ve a few things against thee, 
Only one thing is named, negiect of 
duty. He permitted men to creep 
unawares into the church, who were 
wolves in sheep's clothino;, and who 
devoured the little flock impercepti- 
bly. It is equally as sinful not to ex- 
clude bad men from the church as to 
admit them into it. The minister of 
Christ should neither court the smiles 
nor regard the frowns of any man. If 
his eye be single his whole body shall 
be full of light ; if evil, his whole body 
shall be full of darkness. f 



The doctrine of Balaam. This con- 
sists of three things — 1. Covetousness. 
2. Fornication; and 3. Eating things 
offered to idols. Fornication has two 
meanings, adultery and the love of the 
world. See v. 20. Balaam was fond 
of ease, honor, pleasure, and the com- 
pany of the rich and great; and this 
to promote his own ends. He did not 
shun evil, and therefore was slain by 
it. Finally, he backslid, brought a 
reproach on the cause of religion, and 
probably died a sinner. How many 
thousand Balaams are there in the 
ministry at present, who love the wa- 
ges of unrighteousness, and would sa- 
crifice any thing and every thing to 
obtain the honor that cometh from 
man. Oh for a pious, an evangelical 
army of ministers ! Why, the world 
could not stand before them.t 

Who taught Balak to cast a stum- 



fc Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. See 1 John. 5:1, 
That is, all who are fully assured of this in their own mind, from a sense of forgiveness of 
sins through faith in his name, are born of God. I have heard men affirm with their lips, 
while their hearts were far from him, that Jesus is the Christ ; whe at the same time they 
never had an assurance in their own mind that he was their Savior from sin. He is the 
Savior of all men, but specially of those that believe, (see 1 Tim. 4 : 10.) i. e. he died to 
save all men, but he saves none but those that believe in him to the saving of the soul. 

t This shows that a minister is not only accountable to God for his own conduct, but 
">"or that of the congregation also. If he faithfully warn them against every evil, he clears 
his skirts of their blood ; if not, their blood will be required at his hands in the day of 
judgment. See Ezek. 3 : 18-21, and Acts, 20 : 26, 31. 

+ The first principle of this doctrine is covetousness. a strong desire to be rich, when 
God designed he should be poor. See Eph. 5 : 5, and 1 Cor. 5 : 11, also 6 : 9, 10. 

2, Balaam was an idolater; he loved money more than God and his people. Our Sa- 



REVELATION, 



41 



taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children 
of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit 
fornication. 

15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the 
Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. 

16 Repent ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and 
will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 



bling block before the children of 
Israel. That is, by the rewards of 
divination which the elders of Mo- 
ab and Midian had in their hands 
when they came to seduce Balaam to 
give up his religion and become an 
idolator. The reward was silver and 
gold, ease and honor. Gold and sil- 
ver in the sight of God is of no more 
value than tin or brass ; the ore 
is no better, but we don't think so ; 
and therefore esteem it more than we 
do God and the salvation of poor per- 
ishing sinners, 



15 So hast thou also them that hold 
the doctrines of the Nicolaitanes. See 
verse 6. 

16 Repent. Return again to God 
with all thy heart. Believers have 
to repent of sins of omission, neglect 
of duty, such as secret and family 
prayer, searching and reading the 
scriptures, visiting the poor and needy, 
and ministering to their necessities, 
and keeping himself unspotted from 
the world. We have two laws to 
obey, the law of love as well as the 
moral law. One refers to external, 



vior has said, ye cannot serve God and mammon ; that is, ye cannot love God and love 
money, which is the root of all evil. See Matt. 6 : 24. 

3. He was a double-minded man ; he wished to die the death of the righteous, and yet 
he desired to be rich and respected by the world. A double-minded man has two 
dispositions, one for the world and the other for God ; or as the old proverb has it, holding 
God in one hand, and the world in the other. But such men are unstable in all their ways. 

1. Balaam was a respecter of persons ; a sure mark of a covetous man. When the 
elders of Moab and the elders of Midian were sent to him, they could not prevail until 
the princes of Moab and of Midian were sent, and these seemed to have more influence 
than the former. 

5. He was a dissembler ; he said if Balak would give him his house full of silver and 
gold he could not go beyond the word of the Lord, when at the same time he was fully 
determined to take the bribe and disobey the commandment of God. 

6. He was cruel and unmerciful. He was angry with the dumb ass because it would 
not carry him to perdition, or to curse the people of God ; and he unmercifully 
beat his ass because it refused to rush against the sword of the Lord : and now we see 
how many impure streams have issued from this corrupt, impure fountain, covetousness. i 



42 



NOTES ON THE 



17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches : To him that overcometh will I 



the other to internal actions ; an evil 
thought or intention is the same in the 
sight of God as an evil action. " He 
that looketh on a woman to lust after 
her, hath committed adultery with 
her already in his heart," and merits 
punishment for it. You may inquire, 
then who is sufficient for these things ? 
We answer, the christian who is 
deeply embued with the spirit of his 
Master. 

Will fight against them. With 
either the sword of my spirit or the 
sword of the enemy. If they repent 
they shall be saved ; if not, cut off for 
ever. Hence the fight of the law is 
called the Lord's battle, or war with 



sin. The law is his two-edged sword, 
with which he slays the wicked. Zo- 
har on Numbers, fol. 99 : 4.* 

17 The hidden manna. The Lord 
Jesus, the bread of life, which came 
down from heaven. Philo calls the 
the manna, the Eternal Logos, or word 
of Jehovah. Hence, &>pno ta the 
hidden manna, food for the soul. Zo- 
har on Numbers, fol. 88 : l.f 

A white stone. A clean heart and 
a right spirit. Hence che nu ra da 
ma ka da sha, the pure stone of the 
sanctuary. Zohar on Lev. fol. 8 :1. 
The high priest under the law gave 
a white stone to the person (with his 
name engraven on it) whom he ac- 



7. Finally, had not Balaam kept Balak's messengers all night, and treated them with such 
kindness, no doubt they would not have come the second time ; but by tarrying in his house 
all night, and being in his company so long, they could easily discover that he was a lover 
of money, ease, and honor; and by this means they betrayed bis disposition to Balak, who 
failed not in sending some of the most respectable men in the land, in order to persuade 
him to forsake God and his people, and become an idolator. How true is that saying, he 
that is a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

* Some may ask the question, would God be so unmerciful as to condemn a believer for 
a mistake in judgment ? This is easily answer-ed. Sins of ignorance and of error had 
to be pardoned under the law, and why not now ? God did not condemn him because of 
a mistake in judgment, but for not either reforming these men or cutting them off. But 
some may ask, how could he do this if he did not know such men were in the church 1 
This was no excuse at all, it was his business to find out whether there were or not such 
corrupt members in the church. 

t He laid down his life for us, that we might have life through him ; that is, spiritual 
life here and life eternal hereafter. And as meat and drink are the only things on which 
we can subsist, and without which life must cease, the body and blood of Christ are the 
only things on which the soul can subsist here, and through which we shall have life eternal 
hereafter. So that without we eat the flesh of the Son of God, and drink his blood, by 
faith, we have no life in us, and we must lose eternal life hereafter* 



REVELATION. 



43 



give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white 
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man 
knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. 

18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira 
write ; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his 
eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass, 

19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and 



quitted in judgment. Jesus, our great 
high priest, gives the believer a new 
and clean heart. 

With a new name written. That 
of a christian ; and he shall have an 
evidence of his acceptance also in the 
beloved: the Spirit of God will so 
clearly impress this on his mind, that 

Not a cloud shall arise 

To darken his skies, 

Nor hide for a moment 

His dear Lord from his eyes. 

The victor in the Grecian games not 
only received a white stone, but had 
his name also engraven on it ; this to 
him was of more value than silver or 
gold, because it was evidence that he 
had conquered his antagonist. The 
witness of the Holy Spirit with our 
spirit is an evidence that we have 
passed from death unto life, and that 
we have obtained the victory over the 
world, the flesh, and the devil, 

Which no man knoweth. The genu- 
ine christian is a stranger to the world 
and the world a stranger to him ; he 
is dead to all its enjoyments ; he lives 
for God and to God, having little re- 
gard for what man may think or 
say of him. 

The Son of God. A person of the 
same nature and duration with God, 



not in a natural, but in a divine and 
incomprehensible sense, for " no man 
knoweth the Son but the Father, and 
no man knoweth the Father but the 
Son, and he to whom he may reveal 
him." Luke, 1G : 22. He was cruci- 
fied and put to death because he de- 
clared himself to be the Son of God. 
The reason is very obvious, because 
the Jews believed the Son to be equal 
with the Father in glory, honor, 
might, majesty, dominion, and power. 
John, 10 : 36. See chapter 1 : 8, and 
4 : 10. 

18 Thyatira. A city of Lesser 
Asia, about twenty-six miles north of 
Sardis, and fifty-six north east of 
Smyrna. For the remainder of this 
verse see chap. 1 : 14, 15. 

19 I know thy works. Love, hu- 
mility, charity, patience, long-suffer- 
ing, gentleness, goodness, meekness, 
faith, temperance. 

And the last to be more than the 
first. He was more holy, happy, use- 
ful, zealous, humble, patient, now than 
when he first believed. How few 
ministers are to be found at present of 
this character ; in fact, many of them 
seek their own glory, and not God's : 
they have their reward, but it is in 
this life. They will have no reward 
in the life to come, 



44 



NOTES ON THE 



faith, and patience, and thy works ; and the last to be 
more than the first : 

20 Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, 
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth 
herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants 
to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto 
idols. 



20 That woman Jezebel, An apos- 
tate church, from i£ ae, a province, 
country, and aOT za val, a prostitute. 
Hence S&? za vul, a church. She 
was, therefore, a spiritual prostitute* 
an apostate (national) church, from 
which God had taken his departure ; 
and yet she retained the form without 
the power of godliness. She preached, 
prayed, exhorted, and administered 
all the ordinances. She was a pro- 
phetess, preacher, Jewish church. 
She encompassed sea and land to 
make proselites, but made them 
two-fold mor the children of hell. 



She also made inroads on the chris- 
tian church at Thyatira, and seduced 
some of the members from the sim- 
plicity of the gospel. This minister was 
in some degree blameable in not warn- 
ing his people against her vile seduc- 
tions. See 1 Kings, 16 : 31.* 

Fornication. Spiritual adultery, 
love of the world, its riches, honors, 
pleasures, &c. " Ye adulterers and 
adulteresses, know ye not that the 
friendship of the world is enmity with 
God," and he that is the friend of the 
world is the enemy of God. James, 
4 : 4.f 



* The name derived it9 origin from Jezebel, tbe wife of Ahab, king- of Israel. This 
wicked king had first forsaken the worship of the true God, and after this he gave himself 
up to idolatry ; and the next step he took was to marry Jezebel, and she led him into 
greater acts of impiety. See 1 Kings, 16: 31. This was very applicable to these back- 
sliding christians. Like Ahab, king of Israel, they had forsaken the Lord their God and 
his people, and had given themselves up to idolatry ; and after this they united themselves 
to the synagogue of the Jews which was in Thyatira, and they had led them into grosser 
idolatry and greater acts of wickedness. 

t He that looks on a woman to lust after her, and he that is determined to commit murder 
if he can do it, is as guilty in the sight of God as if he did the act ; and though the law 
of the land cannot punish him until he commits the crime, yet the law of God will punish 
him for the intention the same as for the act itself. A finite law can punish no farther 
than a finite being can comprehend; but an infinite law can punish as far as an infinite 
being can comprehend. God seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward ap- 
pearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. See 1 Sam. 16 : 7. 



REVELATION", 



45 



r 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, 
and she repented not. 

22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that 



To eat things sacrificed to idols. 
She became all things to all men, to 
gain the more ; to the Jew she became 
a Jew ; and to the Gentile, a Gentile. 
She eat meats sacrificed to idols with 
the one, and prohibited them to the 
other. I have known a minister of the 
very same stamp. He was so kind, 
so liberal, that he became all things to 
all men, to gain the more ; he admit- 
ted all kinds of preachers into his pul- 
pit, and preached all kinds of doctrines 
himself, such as methodism, Calvin- 
ism, universalism, unitarianism ; but 
he took good care to exclude holy, 
pious, and sound ministers from his 
pulpit.* 

21 I gave her space to repent. To 
renounce the hidden works of dishon- 
esty, and return to God with all her 
heart. The Lord is long-suffering, 
slow to anger, abundant in mercy, not 



willing that any should perish, but 
that all should come to the knowledge 
of the truth, and be saved. Let 
every preacher, as a matter of duty, 
seek out the lost sheep of the house 
of Isrsel, and get them into the fold 
again. The Lord give you grace and 
wisdom to do so.f 

22 I will cast her into a bed. Of af- 
fliction. I will punish her severely 
with the sword without, and the fire 
and famine within, because of her 
whoredoms in departing from me. It 
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
of the living God. Therefore^ we 
ought to exhort one another daily, es- 
pecially as the day of his wrath is 
fast approaching. "Not every one 
that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall 
enter into the kingdom of heaven, but 
he that doeth the will of my Father 
who is in heaven." Matt. 7 : 21, 



* An idol, literally, is an image or a likeness of any creature ; and sacrificing to it is 
either praying or paying adoration to it, or else sacrificing oxen, sheep, &c. to it as a god, 
and afterwards feasting upon this sacrifice, or making a meal of it by way of rejoicing ; 
and an idol, spiritually, is any thing on which we place our affections more than God ; and 
this may be either money, husbands, wives, children, the world, dress, the ball-room, the 
play-house, the tavern, &c. So that sacrificing to the idol must mean delighting in it, 
placing our affections on it more than God. And now, reader, examine yourself, and see 
whether you are a son or a daughter of spiritual Jezebel or not ; and if you find that you 
are, repent quickly, that you may obtain mercy. 

t How much more merciful is God than man ! If a woman has broken her marriage 
vow her husband is not willing to be reconciled to her again as long as he lives ; but the 
good and merciful God offers these backsliders pardon the second time, if they repented ; 
and this after they committed spiritual adultery with the world. 



46 



NOTES ON THE 



commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except 
they repent of their deeds. 

23 And I will kill her children with death ; and all the 
churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the 
reins and hearts : and I will give unto every one of you 
according to your works. 

24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, 



And them who commit adultery with 
her. Her members, who are charm- 
ed, delighted with her eloquence, 
splendid music, princely equipage, 
elegant seats, pulpit, desks, elegant 
language, regular and ordained min- 
istry. This is precisely the character 
of all fallen churches to the present 
moment ; they substitute any thing 
and every thing in the room of the 
simple and sublime worship of God ; 
their whole object is to please, that 
they may profit by it ; that is, in a 
temporal point of view. 

23 / will hill her children with 
death. Temporal, spiritual, eternal. 
Here is the end of every fallen church 
which has the form of godliness with- 
out the power. Ichabod, Ichabod, 
the glory has departed, is written on 
her forehead. She has lost the life and 



power of religion, and the only way 
she can now sustain herself is by po- 
litical influence ; either directly or in- 
directly to receive pecuniory aid from 
the government. Her bishops and pre- 
lates have so far departed from the 
spirit of Christ as to become political 
demagogues. " They stoop to con- 
quer," get gain, keep it, and fill 
their coffers with the unrighteous 
mammon.* 

According to his works. The more 
holy, useful, heavenly-minded a min- 
ister of Jesus is, the greater degree of 
glory will he have in his Father's 
kingdom. Not a weight, but an eter- 
nal weight of glory. 

24 The depths of Satan. The wiles 
of the devil, his artifices, tricks, de- 
vices, deceptions, twistings and turn- 
ings, and shifting from one system of 



* Elijah prophesied that all Ahab's postei'ity should be cut off, and that Jezabel his wife 
should be eaten by dogs. See 1 Kings, 21 : 23. And this prophecy was literally fulfilled 
upon her children and upon herself ; the flesh was torn off her body by dogs, and there was 
no part of it to be found but her skull, and her feet, and the palms of her hands. See 2 
Kings, 9 : 35. And her children were beheaded by order of Jehu, and their heads car- 
ried in a basket to Jehu at Jezreel. See chap. 10 : 7-11. Our Lord applies this prophecy 
to these idolatrous Jew9 and backsliding christians. And if they did not suffer exactly 
the same punishment as did this woman and her children, yet they suffered more severely 
in the siege of Jerusalem. 



REVELATION* 



47 



As many as have not this doctrine, and which have not 
known the depths of Satan, as they speak ; I will put 
upon you none other burden : 

25 But that which ye have already, hold fast till I 
come. 

26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works 
unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations : 

27 (And he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; as the 
vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers :) even 
as I received of my Father. 



doctrines to another. To gain his 
point, he first flatters, then fawns, af- 
terwards he diffuses his poison, and 
finally swallows up his victim like the 
Anaconda of India. See v. 9. 

No other burden. His yoke is easy, 
his burden light ; he is ever merciful, 
he never requires of his creatures ser- 
vices of which they are not capa- 
ble ; but with the will he gives the 
ability also to perform.* 



26 Power over the nations. When 
Christianity shall be established 
throughout the world, its ministers 
shall then be priests and kings unto 
God and the Father. But before this 
can take place the great stumbling 
block, the apostate church, must be 
removed out of its place. f 

27 And he shall rule them with a 
rod of iron. With power and au- 
thority. The people will then fear, 



* Our Savior lays no heavier burden on us than we are able to bear, and w hat shall at 
last terminate in a double degree of glory hereafter. He fits the back for the burden; and 
for every duty he requires he gives a double degree of grace to do it. His yoke is easy to 
the believer, and his burden light. He is not a hard master, reaping where he hath not 
sowed, and gathering where he had not strawed. If he has never given us a talent he 
can never call us to an account for a misimprovement of it; for where much is given 
there is much required ; and where nothing is given, there is nothing required. And had 
not God given a talent to the unprofitable servant, it would have been impossible (accord- 
ing to strict justice) to have sentenced him to eternal misery for not improving a talenX 
which he never had . 

t The Jews not only murdered our Lord, his zealous apostles and innocent followers, 
but used every means in their power to persuade men in authority to have them persecut- 
ed and treated with the utmost severity. We have a specimen of this in Matt. 22 : 16. 



4§ NOTES ON THE 

28 And I will give him the morning star. 

29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. 



reverence, and obey the genuine min- 
isters of Jesus. Many of them at 
present are not respected because they 
do not respect either themselves or the 
Savior. They have a name to live 
while they are dead to vital godli- 
ness.* The Rabbins ask, Who is a 
disciple? The reply is, he that is 
well versed in the law, and who can 
answer every question in doctrine. 
" But he that can give a reason of the 
hope that is in him, with meekness, 
with fear and trembling," gives abet- 



ter answer to the question. The next 
question asked, Who is fit for a shep- 
herd or pastor of the fiock ? Answer, 
he who can feed, teach, establish, 
build up, and preserve the sheep from 
wolves, or false teachers and false 
doctrines. Tal. Bab. Taanith, fol. 
10:2. This then is the character of 
every genuine minister of Jesus. 

28 And I will give him the morn- 
ing star. Grace and glory, honor and 
majesty, wisdom and understand- 
ing.! 



17, 18. When they could find no clause against our Lord with respect to their own law, they 
endeavored to find one against him in reference to the law of the land ; and their artful man- 
ner in asking the question shows the depth of their wickedness and hypocrisy. " Tell us, 
therefore, what thinkest thou ? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not ? We do 
not want to injure you by giving your opinion ; therefore, tell us, Master, what you think 
on this subject. We have only come to receive information." But had our Savior said 
no, tribute must be paid to God alone — they would have accused him to Herod, who was 
then at Jerusalem ; and as he was a bitter enemy of Christ and his church, he would not 
fail to use his endeavors to have him put to death. And I am fully convinced that the 
Jews were the cause of the persecution raised against the christians by the emperor Nero. 
But after the destruction of Jerusalem the ministers of Christ had more power and au- 
thoritv to spread the gospel throughout the world than before, because they had less oppo- 
sition from the learned scribes and lawyers belonging to that nation. But though the 
church had to suffer persecution after the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, from the hea- 
then, yet we have scarcely an instance on record of a Christian who had renounced his 
religion and embraced that of the heathen. So that the Jews were the main cause of the 
gospel not spreading throughout the world ; and when the cause was removed the effect 
ceased. See chap. 11 : 15. 

* The kingdom at present is weak to what it formerly was, and the reason is 
evident; because there is much clay mixed with the iron. But, blessed be God, the 
strength of the iron is yet in the kingdom. God has never left himself without a witness 
to the present, and never will to the end of time. 

t L This may mean that he should give him the shining name of the morning star, or 



REVELATION. 



49 



CHAPTER III. 

AND unto the angel of the church in Sardis write ; 
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, 



1 The angel of the church. The 
minister — servant of it. Christ is the 
master and head of the church him- 
self. There is hut one Lord over 
God's heritage. Let us now con- 
sider the character of a christian min- 
ister. 1. Then, he is no brawler, 
striker, gambler, politician, wine -bib- 
ber, hunter, horse-racer, dancer, ex- 
tortioner, oppressor of the poor, slave- 
holder, babbler, billiard, check or card 
player. This is what he is not ; now 
then we will show you what he is. 
2. He is to be blameless, the husband 
of one wife, not as the papist priest, 
the husband of no wife. A law pre- 
vailed over the whole church in the 
time of the apostles, that no minister 
should marry a second time, because 



second marriages were generally con- 
sidered imprudent and unhappy, es- 
pecially if there were children of 
the former wife living. This law 
continued down to the time of Ter- 
tullian. It was put in force once 
at least in his time. He asserts that 
" a minister who married a second 
time was excluded from his office." 
See 1 Tim. 3 : 2; 5 : 9. 

3. He is to study to show himself 
approved, a workman that need not 
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word 
of truth, so as to give a portion of 
meat to all in due season. To this 
end he must not be a novice, lifted up 
with pride, lest he fall into the con- 
demnation of the devil. The most ig- 
norant and illiterate preachers are 



'that he should be called a shining and a burning light. See verse 16 of the former chapter. 

2. It may mean that as Christ is the morning star himself, (see chap. 22 : 16,) that he 
should reflect the clearest light on his mind, and confer the greatest honor on him, as a 
king and conqueror, that is, if faithful to the end. See verse 26. 

3. It may mean, that after he had passed through the present persecution and affliction, 
he should be more pure and holy, and consequently better able to enlighten others in the 
way of holiness. Josephus compares the wickedness, ignorance, and spiritual blindness 
of the Jews (that is, a little before they were destroyed by the Roman army) to a deadly 
night which had come upon them ; and the Roman army is compared to a cloud. Chap. 
1 : 7. So that when the Jews were destroyed, and the clouds of the Roman army had 
passed away, the morning light appeared, and Christ and his ministers shone upon a be- 
nighted world with greater light and glory than ever. 



50 



XOTES ON THE 



and the seven stars ; I know thy works, that thou hast a 
name that thou li vest, 'and art dead. 

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which re- 

7 o o 



generally the most arbitrary and self- 
conceited : having little talents and 
but a small amount of piety, they are 
apt to be envious and jealous of every 
preacher who is more esteemed than 
themselves. These are men of but 
one sermon, ever learning, and never 
coming to the knowledge of the truth. 

4. He is to preach the word when 
he can, where he can, and to whom 
he can; to be instant in season and 
out of season ; to reprove, rebuke, 
exhort, with all long-suffering and 
doctrine, especially as the time has 
now come when the people will not 
endure sound doctrine, but are heap- 
ing to themselves teachers having 
itching ears, and turning away from 
the truth, supposing gain to be godli- 
ness. From such, oh man of God, 
withdraw thyself, or thou wilt perish 
with them in the gainsaying of Core. 

5. He is to be an example of piety 
to the believers, in word, in charity, 
in spirit, in love, in humility, meek- 
ness, mildness, zeal, temperance, pa- 
tience, resignation to the will of God. 

6. To be crucified to the world and 
the world crucified to him, by the 
cross of Christ; to have no anxious 
thoughts about what he shall eat and 
what he shall drink, and wherewithal 
he shall be clothed. He is to be dead 
to the riches, honors, pleasure, and 
applause of the world. 

7. To read no book, to write no 
book, to study no book, that does not 
tend to the glory of God. 



8. To go into no company or socie- 
ty where he cannot take his Master 
with him. 

9. He is to visit the poor and needy 
from house to house, pray with and 
preach Christ and him crucified to 
them. And also to visit prisons, hos- 
pitals, and lunatic asylums. Matt, 
25 : 36. 

10. Finally, whether he eats or 
whether he drinks, or whatever he 
does, he is to do all to the glory of 
God. 

Sardis. An ancient city in Lesser 
Asia, situated at the foot of Mount 
Tmolus. In the days of our Savior 
it was destroyed by an earthquake, 
and afterwards rebuilt by Tiberius? 
the Roman emperor. 

A name that thou livest, and art 
dead. He retained simply the name 
of a christian minister, when at the 
same time he was dead, in formality. 
He stood high, no doubt, in public es- 
timation, as a great and eloquent 
preacher; but in the estimation of the 
searcher of all hearts he was a fallen 
man ; that is, in heart, though not in 
life. He was exalted in his own es- 
timation and in that of the world, but 
not in that of God ; and he is now de- 
termined to humble him in the very 
dust ; he will not be trifled with : 
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap, 6cc. but let us not be 
weary in well-doing, for in due season 
we shall reap if we faint not. 

2 Be watchful. Over thy life, con- 



REVELATION, 



51 



main, that are ready to di 
works perfect before God. 

duct, conversation, preaching, zeal, 
talents, experience. The idea is taken 
from a sailor who had fallen asleep at 
the helm, neglected his duty, and ran 
the ship ashore. This minister's an- 
chor had almost slipped its cable ; his 
faith became weak, his zeal for the 
voyage abated, his care for his crew 
indifferent, his light obscure, his hope 
of reaching the port of rest uncertain, 
his soul dull and sluggish, and his eye 
any where and every where but on 
the compass ; he took no soundings, 
nor lunar observations, kept no log 
book, nor ever looked through the 
quadrant either at the sun, moon, or 
stars, until, finally, he got into shallow 
water, with the rocks and quick-sands 
on every side ; and had it not been for 
the Captain of our salvation, ship and 
crew would have been all lost. He 
took the helm, awoke him, pointed 
out his danger, and told him to bout 
ship immediately, lay her to the wind, 
hoist sail, and steer for the port of 
glory, and he soon should get there 
safe and sound, and thank God that 
he had seen his danger, and finally 
he enabled him to reach the haven of 
rest in safety. 

Strengthen the things which re- 
main. Prop up your good desires, (of 
usefulness,) by putting them in prac- 
tice. If you do this you shall have 
grace to carry you through to the end 
of the voyage. God will increase your 
faith, confirm your hope, and build 
you up in love. 

Are ready to die. To vanish, de- 



; for I have not found thy 



part, separate, the same as the soul 
from the body. Sin and holiness can- 
not be co-workers, they have no fel- 
lowship with each other ; when the 
one enters the heart the other departs 
from it. " What fellowship hath 
light with darkness, or he that believ- 
eth, with an infidel ?" " How can two 
walk together except they agree''' 
that is, in faith and practice. 

Have not found thy works perfect. 
They were imperfect, deficient ; did 
not come up to the gospel standard, 
would not bear inspection. The doc- 
trine of christian perfection is very 
plain and simple, and no way ambigu- 
ous, if rightly understood. It is cer- 
tainly taught in the Bible, and can ne- 
ver be discredited by men of piety. 
But the great difficulty is, we have 
raised the standard too high : this is 
the reason w r hy some men stumble at 
it. Man is sure to be on the extremes 
in everything; he either looks too 
high or too low, he either goes be- 
yond the mark or does not come up to 
it. Perfection with him is either sin- 
less or sinful. These are not gospel 
terms, they are scholastic, and not to 
be found in the scriptures of truth, 
and should never be made use of by 
christian ministers, either in preach- 
ing or writing. One means absolute 
perfection, and the other no perfection, 
There are four general terms used in 
the Bible to explain this doctrine, 
1. t k c?) la-mam. 1. To be without 
spot or blemish, clean, sound as a lamb 
for sacrifice. Numb. 28 : 3 ; John, 



52 NOTES ON THE ' 

3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and 
heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt 
not watch, 1 will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt 
not know what hour I will come upon thee, 



15 : 3. 2. To be without guile, de- 
ceit, hypocrisy. Job, 1:1; John, 1 : 
47. 2. I"63 ca lah. To finish, end, 
complete, as a building. 1 Kings, 6 : 
38 ; Col. 2 : 10. 3. Sha lam. 

1. To have peace with God ; that is, 
through our Lord Jesus Christ ; to be 
reconciled to him through the death 
of his Son. 2. To be straight, even, 
upright, in heart and life. 1 Chron. 
28 : 9 ; 1 Kings, 8 : 61. 4. Eftg ha 
dash is the same as etyioc to be holy, 
pure, clean, sanctified. Exod. 21 : 37 ; 
1 Cor. 1 : 2. Justification is the bud, 
sanctification the blossom, and glory 
the ripe fruit. There is a perfection 
in the natural and moral world, and 
surely there must be in the spiritual 
world also. The sun, moon and stars, 
the animal and vegetable world, the 
fish of the sea and the fowls of the 
air, are perfect in their generation ; 
and to suppose that he who has made 
these such, cannot make a christian 
perfect, is absurd. He has done it in 
all ages, and will do it in his church 
till time shall be no more. We read 
of perfect patience, perfect love, per- 
fect resignation, perfect meekness and 
humility, perfect faith, and works 
which flow from it, perfect repentance, 
perfect justification, and perfect sanc- 
tification. But what is the perfection 
God requires of believers ? Why, " to 
love him with all the heart, soul, mind 
and strength, and our neighbor as our- 



selves;" and if we do not do this we 
cannot be saved ; for without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord. Love 
to our neighbor is clearly set forth 
in 1 Corin. 13 : 4-8. See verse 4 
of this chapter. Hence, " Now are 
ye clean, through the word which 
I have spoken unto you." John, 15 : 3. 
I have a few names in Sardis which 
have not defiled their garments ; that 
is, by sin ; " and they are worthy, un- 
blameable in my sight," verse 4. The 
difficulty is not in the doctrine itself, 
but in our idea of it. We either raise 
the standard too high or place it too 
low ; and either is highly improper. 
We cannot be as perfect as Adam, as 
angels, or the Deity. This God does 
not require ; but certainly he has com- 
manded us to be holy, as he is holy ; 
to be like him in love, humility, &c. 
1 Peter, 2:9; Heb. 11 : 23. And 
if we do not come up to the standard 
we cannot enter the kingdom of hea- 
ven. Here, then, is plain, simple gos- 
pel perfection ; and instead of cavil- 
ling about it, let us rather seek to at- 
tain it, grow in grace and in the know- 
ledge of our Lord Jesus daily. May 
the Holy Spirit guide you in the way 
of all truth. Amen. 

3 Remember, therefore. Call to 
mind, recollect therefore how thou hast 
received, viz. by faith and prayer, by 
repentance towards God and faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the 



REVELATION. 



53 



4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have 
not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me 
in white : for they are worthy. 



only way to obtain salvation ; if not 
saved in this way, we cannot be saved 
at all.* 

And heard. With fear and trem- 
bling; that is, the gospel, which prov- 
ed to be the power of God unto the 
salvation of his soul. 

And holdfast. By faith and pray- 
er, with a deadly grip, viz. what thou 
hast not lost. For " if the word spo- 
ken by angels was steadfast, and every 
transgression and disobedience receiv- 
ed a just recompense of reward, how 
shall we christians escape if we neg- 
lect so great salvation." Heb. 2 : 3. 

Repent. See chap. 2 : 5. 

Watch. Examine, prove thyself 
by my word arid Spirit. 

I will come as a thief. Suddenly, 



unexpectedly, to take away thy ta- 
lent, and utterly destroy all those who 
would not have me to reign over 
them.f 

4 A few names. A few genuine 
christians — Israelites in whom is no 
guile ; who are walking in all my com- 
mandments and ordinances blameless. 
They live by faith, walk by faith, 
and die by faith. 

They are travelling through 

Immanuel's ground, 
To fairer worlds on high. J 

Which have not defiled their gar- 
ments. By the world, the flesh, nor 
the devil. There is not one stain on 
their christian character. Who will 
lay any thing, then, to the charge of 
God's elect (beloved.) It is God that 



* 1, He received it with fear and trembling, 2. With deep conviction. 3. With sin- 
cere repentance. 4. By faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 5. And lastly, he felt it to be 
the power of God unto the salvation of his soul. 

t 1. Contrary to the opinion of many people in Sardis, the Lord "convinced this 
minister that he was dead in formality. 2. That he wanted more grace to fortify 
-vhat he had. 3. He exhorts him to be watchful. 4. He tells him that the soul of every thing 
good in him is now about to depart from him, and to leave nothing but the dead body of 
sin behind. 5. He shows him that his works are sinful. 6. He exhorts him to consider 
the first steps which he had taken to obtain salvation. 7. He enforces the duty of repentance. 
8. And lastly, he threatens him, that if he does not repent he shall come as a thief, to 
rob and to destroy him. 

i There might have been double the number were it not for this lukewarm minister ; and 
no doubt many had fallen away through his dead, formal way of preaching, while others 
might have been converted by his ministry had he been faithful in the discharge of his duty. 
O ye lukewarm ministers, take warning by this, and repent quickly, before it is too late. 



NOTES ON THE 



5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 
white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the 
book of life, but will confess his name before my Father, 
and before his angels. 



justifieth, who is lie that condemn eth. 
Holiness of heart is the believer's in- 
ward garment, and holiness of life his 
outward vesture. Justification by- 
faith will produce justification by 
works. One is acceptable to God, the 
other to man. Faith that does not 
produce the fruits of holy living is a 
dead letter — a faith that has neither 
soul nor body in it. 

They shall walk with me. Have 
union and communion with the Fa- 
ther and with his Son Jesus Christ ; 
grow in grace and in his knowledge 
daily. 

In white. In virgin purity. They 
had on the wedding garment, and 
were now ready to enter into the mar- 
riage supper of the Lamb, and also to 
take the uppermost seat in glory.* 

For they are worthy. To be ad- 
mitted into heaven. And who will be 
so impious as to say they were un- 
worthy. They were pure in the es- 
timation of God himself, long before 
they departed this life. 

5 He that overcometh. The present 
afflictions and persecutions ; also his 
three-fold enemy. Many who bid 
fair for the kingdom have got weary 



in well-doing, and turned back again 
to the weak and beggarly elements of 
the world. O the necessity of watch- 
ing unto prayer continually! Lord, 
help us to do this, that we enter not 
into temptation. But unto whom 
should we go, after all, but unto Je- 
sus, for he has the words of eternal 
life. 

He shall he clothed. Endued, invest- 
ed with white raiment. Holiness in 
heart and life, the only qualification 
of a minister of Jesus. The office is 
a high and holy one, and he that fills 
it should be holy, happy, zealous, hea- 
venly-minded. The priest who was 
examined by the Sanhedrin and pro- 
nounced worthy, was clothed in white 
robes. 

/ will not blot out. I will not ex- 
communicate him from the kingdom 
of grace and glory ; from the church 
militant, nor from the church trium- 
phant. 

The look of life. The records of 
eternity, where all actions, good, bad, 
and indifferent, are recorded. It may 
mean the gospel of our salvation, 
which will prove a savor of life unto 
life, or a savor of death unto death. 



* No person can hold communion with Christ, in time or in eternity, but he that is holy, 
or else seeking after it at the present ; an unholy thought, an evil desire, or an evil inten- 
tion, will banish the Savior from our heart. How can two walk together unless they agree ; 
and how can the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of Beliel dwell in the one heart together? 



^EVELATIOJST. 



56 



6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. 



By it the apostle declares we shall be 
judged. Rom. 2:16. Every sin we 
commit in public or in private is im- 
mediately entered in the book of life 
by the recording angel ; and if not 
cancelled or transferred to the Savior's 
account, or blotted out of the book of 
life, they will remain as a debt for 
ever against us, and the offender will 
be punished for ever and ever. 
Hence the book of life, in which the 
names of the true Israel are inserted. 
Targ. on Ez. 13 : 9. Nothing terri- 
fied a Jew so much as to tell him his 
name was blotted out of the book of 



life ; that is, he was excommunicated 
from the synagogue and heaven. The 
law was called the book of life. The 
Rabbins say that Messiah will give a 
new and spiritual law to the world. 
St. Paul alludes to this where he de- 
clares that "the law of the Spirit of 
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 
from the law of sin and death." Rom. 
8 : 2. The book of life may allude to 
the Jewish records as kept by the 
Sanhedrim* 

But will confess his name before 
my Father. As a brave and valiant 
soldier of the cross, who counted his 



* It was a practice among the Romans to reward every valiant soldier who had per- 
formed great actions in the field of battle ; and, on the other hand, to put to death every 
soldier who was guilty of treason, cowardice, or desertion. The former person's name 
and his actions were recorded in a book, and after the war was over he was recommended 
to the emperor's notice ; and after this he was amply rewarded for his great services. But 
he that was guilty of the above crimes, his name was blotted out of the soldier's list, as a 
coward, &c. and he was either to be put to death at the present, or else reserved for a 
more convenient season. Their martial law may justly be termed the book of life and of 
death, because the soldier was to live or die according to it. Here our blessed Savior seems 
to assume the character of a general ; his ministers are his officers ; his church, his soldiers ; 
the world, the flesh, and the devil, his enemies ; the gospel, the book of life and of death, 
because by obedience to it we shall have eternal life ; and through disobedience to it, we 
shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of God and the glory of 
his power. See 1 The?. 1 : 9. And as for the armor, you may find it in Eph. 6 : 14. He 
that is afraid of his enemies is a coward, and if he runs away from the field of battle the 
gospel determines his punishment. Heb. 10 : 38. He who is guilty of treason can never 
be pardoned. Heb. 10 : 29. And he who has sworn allegiance to King Jesus, and after- 
wards has betrayed his king and his people into the hands of their enemies, it would be 
good for that man if he had never been born. See Matthew, 26 : 24. See the case of 
Francis Spira. 



56 



NOTES ON THE 



7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write ; 
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that 
hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shut- 
teth ; and shutteth, and no man openeth : 



life not dear to Mm, so that he might 
but win Christ and overcome at last.* 

7 Philadelphia. A city of Lydia, 
about twenty -four miles east of Sardis, 
at the north part of Mount Trnolus. 

He that is holy. In soul, body, and 
spirit ; in time and eternity he is free 
from the least stain of sin, actual or 
original. We are pure in a particular 
point of view ; he is pure in a general 
sense, and in every sense of the word. 

The key of David. The key of 



knowledge, of power and authority, 
viz. to admit proper persons into his 
church, and to exclude improper per- 
sons from it. He understands all 
knowledge, human and divine ; all the 
actions of the life, as well as the 
thoughts and intents of the heart. 
He is omnipresent, every where pre- 
sent, in Asia, Africa, Europe and Ame- 
rica ; in heaven, earth, and hell, at 
the same moment. He is omnipotent, 
has all power in heaven and earth ; 



* After Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army, Titus ordered the list to be read 
of all the soldiers who had performed great exploits in the present war ; he called them to 
him by name, and greatly commended them in the presence of their officers ; and he re- 
joiced in their great valor as much as he did in his own. He put on their heads crowns of 
gold, and golden ornaments about their necks, and he gave them long spears of gold, with 
ensigns that were made of silver ; and removed every one of them to higher stations. He 
also distributed among them, out of the spoils, and the other prey they had taken in the 
war with the Jews, gold and silver, and garments. See Josephus, War, book 7, 1, 3, 4. 
If Titus conferred such great honor upon his faithful soldiers, how much more honor and 
glory will the blessed Jesus, the captain of our salvation, confer on his spiritual soldiers, 
who have conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil 1 He will confess them before his 
heavenly father, and this in the presence of a vast multitude of angels and archangels, and 
all the spirits of just men made perfect. They shall have crowns of glory placed on their 
heads, and palms of victory in their hands, and the golden chain put about their necks, and 
they shall receive higher offices and a double degree of honor and glory. Eye hath not 
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor. 2 : 9. And how happy will it be for the believer 
if he can say with St. Paul, when he is about to leave the world, " I have fought a good 
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me 
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day : 
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." See 2 Tim, 4 : 7, 8, 
and chap. 19 : L 



REVELATION, 



57 



8 I know thy works : behold, I have set before thee an 
open door, and no man can shut it : for thou hast a little 



lie can create and he destroy ; he heal- 
ed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised 
the dead to life, cast out devils, and 
finally conquered the whole world by 
his gospel. He is, therefore, qualified 
to rule the church and the whole 
world. Hence the key means the 
power, authority and dominion of Da- 
vid. Targ. on Is. 22 : 22. See Luke, 
11 : 52. He that opens the door of 
salvation the door of his church, and 
the door of heaven. 

And shutteth and no man openeth. 
The door of mercy, salvation, and 
heaven. No man, if shut, can open 
it again. This was the case with the 
Jews, because of blind unbelief ; and 
to this day they are the same igno- 
rant, obstinate, and unbelieving peo- 
ple they were eighteen hundred years 
since, with the clearest light before 
them that Jesus of Nazareth is the 
true Messiah ; yet they still reject 
him, and are daily looking for a Mes- 
siah to come who will take them back 
to the city of Jerusalem, and make 
them a free and independent people 
and nation. 

8 An open door. That is, of ut- 
terance and salvation. The whole 
world was his parish, and the human 
family his parishioners. The preacher 
who has no higher authority than the 
Bishop's seal, has no authority what- 
ever to enter the ministry. He has 
never preached a gospel sermon, nor 



has he ever converted one soul from 
the error of his ways. The reason is 
very obvious — because he is not con- 
verted himself. And he may arro- 
gantly and impiously ask the humble 
devoted minister of Jesus, " By what 
authority doest thou these things, and 
who gave thee this authority ;" but 
he may reply, " My authority is of 
God, and not of man ; I received not 
my gospel from man, neither was I 
taught it by man, but by the revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ." 

And no man can shut it. Bishops, 
arch-bishops, popes, prelates, princes, 
bulls, edicts, canons, magistrates, min- 
isters, members of parliament, fire, 
furnace, faggot, soldiers, the world, 
the devil, &c. &c. can never prevent 
him from preaching Christ and him 
crucified. If he cannot do it publicly 
in the church, he can do it privately 
in the prison, with his pen, and his 
tongue, where the best sermons in 
the world have been preached, and 
the best epistles written. See Paul 
and Silas, Peter and John, Luther 
and Melancthon, Baxter and Bunyan, 
Wesley and Whitfield, how nobly, 
faithfully, and fearlessly they stood 
up for their divine Master. They 
made the kingdoms of the earth trem- 
ble, subdued nations, wrought mira- 
cles, raised dead sinners to life, and 
put to flight the armies of the aliens.* 

A little strength. He had grace to 



* A faithful minister is more likely to be persecuted by lukewarm professors of religion 
than by wicked men, for they cannot bear sound doctrine. They have itching ears, turn- 



58 



NOTES ON THE 



strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my 
name, 

9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, 
which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie ; behold, 
I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, 
and to know that I have loved thee. 



shun evil, overcome it, and reprove 
sin, " to touch not, taste not, handle 
not the unclean thing." 

Has kept my word. My command- 
ments, and walked in my ordinances 
blameless. Though thy faith is weak, 
yet it is genuine. 

And hast not denied my name. 
That is, my divinity. He faithfully 
and fearlessly maintained that there 
is no other name given under hea- 
ven among men whereby we can be 
saved but the name of Jesus, viz. 



that he is the King eternal, immor- 
tal, &c* 

9 For Jew and Synagogue of Sa- 
tan see chap. 2:9. 

And worship before thy feet. 
That is, they shall be brought into 
subjection to Christ, his church and 
his ministers. They shall either be 
conquered by my gospel or be subdued 
by their enemies. f This is a quota- 
tion from Isaiah, 60 : 14, and has re- 
ference to the Jews. 

And know that I have loved thee* 



ing away from the truth ; and, like backsliding- Israel, will make choice of their own king 
in preference to him whom the Lord hath chosen to the office. These serpents, if 
they cannot poison your person publicly, will endeavor to injure your character privately- 
So that you need to be always on your watch, and show yourself approved, both in the 
sight of God and man. Eemember, he that is for you is more than all that are againsC 
you. And blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all 
manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for 
great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 
See Matt. 5 : 11 ; 2 Cor. 11 : 23-23. 

* He first felt him to be his own Savior from sin, and then he publicly declared him to 
be the Savior of all men, but especially of them that believe. 

t This is a quotation from Genesis, 27 : 29. And the same expression occurs again 
in Isaiah, 49 : 23. In the former chapter the prophecy is applied to Jacob, and in the 
latter it is represented as being fulfilled upon the Gentile converts after the destruction of 
Jerusalem. For it was then, and only then, that the Jews had to be in subjection to the 
church of Christ ; and from the nature of the prophecy, and St. Paul's application of it 
to both Jews and Gentiles, (Rom. 9 : 12, 13, 23, 24,) I am inclined to think that it is an 



REVELATION. 



59 



10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I 
also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which 
shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell up- 
on the earth. 



As the genuine seed of Jacob. Thou 
hast been a wrestling Jacob ; thou art 
now a prevailing Israelite. The 
Edomite (Jew) I abhor, because he 
has sold his spiritual birth-right for a 
mess of pottage, a morsel of meat. 
One walks after the flesh, the other 
after the Spirit. One serves God, 
the other serves himself. One is lay- 
ing up treasure on^ earth, the other in 
heaven. Therefore the spiritual man 
I love ; the natural, unregenerate man, 



who follows the desires of the flesh 
and mind, I do not, cannot love. 

10 The word of my patience. The 
gospel of salvation. 

The hour of temptation. A time of 
great calamity and distress, such as 
never came on the world before, and 
never shall while the world lasts. 
The great battle of God Almighty is 
now about to be fought, in which the 
blood of the slain shall come up to 
the horses' bridles ; but you shall be 



allegory, or a figurative mode of expression, in which one thing is said and another intended. 
So that we must endeavor to find out its spiritual meaning. Rebecca was a type of the 
church of Christ; Esau a type of the unbelieving Jew ; and Jacob a type of the believing 
Gentile. See Gen, 25 : 21. 

1. Rebecca having twins in her womb, denoted that the church of Christ would travail 
in birth for the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles. 

2. She being in pain, and desiring to be delivered, denoted that, in like manner, the 
church of Christ would be in great pain, and desire earnestly to be delivered from under 
the Jewish yoke. See chap. 12 : 1-3 ; 11 : 8 ; and 6 : 10, 11. 

3. She being barren and unfruitful, indicated that the church of Christ would be barren 
and unfruitful as long as they were under the Jewish dispensation. 

^ 4. The children struggling together in her womb, and causing great pain on her part, 
represented the powerful opposition the believing Gentiles should meet with from the unbe- 
lieving Jews ; and likewise that their opposition would produce great sorrow and pain in 
the minds of the church. See Acts, 8 : 1 ; 15 : 1, 2, 10, 24 ; also Gal. 4 ; 29. 

5. It was said that two nations were in her womb— from which we may learn that this 
cannot be understood literally. See sec. 1. But some may say that it does not mean two 
nations, but two children, who were to be the heads of two great nations ; but this is a 
direct contradiction of the text. And why may not this be an allegory, as well as the son 
of the bond woman, and the son of the free woman ? See Gal. 4 : 24. 

6. It was said that two manner of people should be separated from her bowels, which 
denoted that the church of Christ would produce believers of both Jews and Gentiles. 



60 



NOTES ON THE 



' ' 11 Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast which thou 
hast, that no man take thy crown. 



preserved, the hairs of your head are 
all numbered. 

11 Behold, I come quickly. Imme- 
diately, without delay, in a few years, 
to take vengeance on the wicked, and 
all them that obey not the gospel, 
" and they shall be punished with 
everlasting destruction from the pre- 
sence of the Lord and the glory of 
his power for ever." 



Hold fast. Thy faith, hope, con- 
fidence, and profession of the christian 
religion. 

That no man take thy crown. Ho- 
nor, glory, office of the ministry, and 
the final and eternal reward that a- 
waits thee in glory. 

12 Him that overcometh. That en- 
dureth to the end of the persecutions 
and afflictions which are about to come 



7. It was said that one of these people would be stronger than the other, which indi- 
cated that the Gentile converts would be much more numerous than the Jewish. But it 
is very probable it may mean that they should be stronger in the faith of the gospel than 
the others. See chap. 2 : 26. 

8. It was said that the elder should serve the younger ; and this was fulfilled both lite- 
rally and spiritually. For they not only had to submit to the christians, but had to serve 
the Romans as slaves. 

9. It was said that the first child which she brought forth was red all over like a hairy 
garment. This was a representation of the immense quantity of blood that should be 
shed by the Jewish nation to make an atonement for their sin. Esau being hairy all over 
represented the beastly sacrifices offered by the Jews. This nation was the first born, or 
the first that was taken into the covenant of grace, and the Gentile nation was the next. 
One was the elder, the other the younger brother. 

10. It was said that after this his brother came out, and his hand took hold on Esau's 
heel, which denoted that the Gentile believers would lay hold on the blessing of salvation 
which the Jews despised and rejected. Sometimes the hand means a blessing, and the 
heel, derision. See Acts, 4 : 30 ; John, 13 : 18. 

11. It was said that Esau sold his birth-right. This has reference to the double portion 
that he was entitled to as the first born son. See chap. 7 : 5. This signified that the 
Jews would not only despise the rich blessings of salvation, which were offered to them by 
Christ and his apostles, but should exclude themselves from their lawful inheritance by un- 
belief. The Romans first subdued the nation, and then seized upon their inheritance, lite- 
rally ; and afterwards they embraced the blessings of the gospel which the others despised. 
Like the ungrateful horse to his master, they lifted up their heel to kick at him who was 
the author of their salvation. 

12. Jacob's willingness to obtain the birth-right, showed that they would be willing to 
obtain the blessing which the others despised, and by this means become heirs to the spirit- 
ual inheritance. 



REVELATION. 



61 



12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the 
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out : and I 
will write upon him the name of my God, and the name 



on the church and the world. 1 Pe- 
ter, 4 : 17. 

Will I make a pillar in the temple 
of my God. A chief prop, a head 
man ; a chief apostle in the church of 
the living God, to bear up the molten 
sea of salvation. See Chron. 4 : 2, 3 ; 
Gal. 2 : 9' a pillar, among 

the Rabbins, means a great, wise and 
eminent person. Tal. Bab. Beracoth, 
fol. 28 : 2. The pillar of God will 
prop and build up the church. The pil- 
lar of man pull it down about your ears. 

He shall go no more out. He shall 
not be separated from the church by 
persecution, or he shall not go out as an 
apostle or missionary into the world, 
but shall be an elder in the church, to 
oversee the flock during the remainder 
of his life. 

i" will write on him the name of the 
city of my God. Holiness to the Lord 
shall be visible in his life, conduct and 
conversation. All will then acknow- 
ledge him to be a genuine christian, 
the seed of Jehovah, whom the Lord 
hast blest and made happy. See chap. 
14 : 9. 

" The new Jerusalem. The church 
of the living God, the spiritual city, 
which, like the phoenix, has risen up 
out of the ashes of the old city. The 
one was the shadow, the other is the 
substance. The shadow has passed 
away ; the substance is to remain for 
ever ; it shall never be destroyed. 
See chapter 2:1. The one is from 
beneath, the other from above ; the 
one earthly, the other heavenly ; the 



one literal, the other spiritual ; the 
one old, the other new. St. Paul de- 
clares that his brethren had already 
come to Mount Zion, the city of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
and to an innumerable company of 
ministers, to the general assembly and 
church of the first born, whose names 
are written in heaven. Heb. 12 : 22- 
23. Here then is a clear proof that the 
new Jerusalem means the church of 

Christ. Hence b^'H*, from hp* 
ya-rah, she shall be fixed, settled, built 

up, established ; and sha lorn, 

peace, happiness, prosperity, estab- 
lished in peace, buiit upon it as a foun- 
dation. " Peace on earth and good will 
toward men " is the very foundation of 
Christianity. But it may mean, she 
shall see, inherit, enjoy peace, pros- 
perity. The Messiah is called Mel- 
chizedek, King of Salem, or Prince 
of Peace — the author and giver of it. ' 
His ministers are the ambassadors of 
it ; his gospel proclaims it to the world, 
and his Spirit applies it to the heart 
of the believer, and all his members 
are the subjects of it, they enjoy peace 
with God, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Its weapons are not carnal, 
but spiritual and mighty, to the pull- 
ing down of the strong holds of Satan ; 
its walls are salvation, its gates praise, 
and are open night and day to admit 
perishing sinners into it. The altar 
and candlesticks are pure gold, and 
the streets of the city paved with 



G2 



NOTES ON THE 



of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which 
cometh down out of heaven from God : and / will write 
upon him my new name. 



gold. The tree of life is in the midst 
of it, and the river of life runs through 
every part of it, to water and replenish 
every plant in the garden. The Sab- 
bath, sacrament, preaching, day of 
atonement, year of Jubilee, the minis- 
try and membership, the sacrifices, 
offerings and altars, are all new and 
heavenly. 

1. The Jewish Temple was the 
most elegant and costly building in the 
world. The stones were very large, 
smooth, precious, and covered all over 
with large plates of gold. [See Jose- 
phus.] The Church of Christ, the 
King's daughter, is all glorious with- 
in: her covering is of wrought gold, 
Psalm 45 : 13, and the members are 
living stones, built up a spiritual house, 
" a royal priesthood, a holy temple to 
the Lord." This is the tabernacle 
which the Lord pitched, and not man, 
the temple made without hands, the 
residence of the Divine Shekinah. 

2. The temple had twelve gates, 
one for each of the tribes to enter into 
the holy city ; three on the east, three 
on the west, three on the north, and 
three on the south. These gates re- 
presented the twelve apostles, who 
were the doors through which all be- 
lievers entered the church. They were 
sent into every part of the world to 
preach the unsearchable riches of 
Christ among the Gentiles. 

3. Christ is the priest, the altar, 
and the sacrifice for sin himself. 

4. He is also our prophet, priest, 
and kine. 



5. The ark of the covenant, with 
the two tables of the law, was deposit- 
ed in the temple. The gospel of our 
salvation, with all the christian ordi- 
nances, is deposited in the church un- 
til time shall be no more. 

6. The mercy-seat and the cheru- 
bim were emblems of the ministers of 
Jesus, and their mission of mercy to a 
perishing world. 

7. The passover was a type of 
Christ, our spiritual passover, who is 
sacrificed for us, a memorial of which 
is kept up in his church unto the pre- 
sent ; " as oft as ye eat this bread and 
drink of this cup, ye show forth the 
Lord's death till he come." 

8. Baptism is substituted in the 
room of circumcision. 

9. The golden vessels were em- 
blems of holy men and holy women. 
Rom. 9 : 23. 

10. There were three separate a- 
partments in the temple — the outward 
court of the proselytes, the inner court 
of the true Israel of God, the holiest 
of all, into which the high priest en- 
tered alone, once a year, by the blood 
of the atonement. There are three 
apartments in the christian church— 
a place of probation for penitents, the 
church itself for genuine believers, and 
the high and holy office of the min- 
istry for all those who are called of 
God, as was Aaron. 

11. The veil which separated Jews 
and Gentiles was an emblem of the 
human nature of Christ, which was 
rent in pieces on the cross for the sins 



REVELATION. 



63 



13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. 

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans 
write ; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true 
Witness, the beginning of the creation of God ; 



of all men, and by which the way to 
the holiest of all is made possible for 
both Jew and Gentile. 

12. Finally, there were but two 
orders of the ministry, priests and Le- 
vites, with the high priest as their 
overseer. There are but two orders 
in the ministry in the church of Christ, 
senior and junior preachers, deacons 
and elders, with Christ as their over- 
seer and high priest. 

The city has been besieged a thou- 
sand times by the world and the de- 
vil, but has never yielded as yet : no, 
nor never shall while the world lasts. 
See chap. 2:1. 

The Rabbins say the third time Je- 
rusalem shall be built will be in Mes- 
siah's day, and then it shall descend 
from heaven, and shall be free from 



sin, from slavery, from Satan and the 
world. Zohar on Gen. fol. 13 : 2 
126 : 4.* 

14. Laodicea. A city of Phrygia, 
near Collosse. 

The Amen. The God of truth. Is. 
65 : 15. The confirmer of all the 
promises made to the fathers ; the 
Messiah, who is the life, the truth, 
and the way. 

The faithful and true Witness. 
Amen has two meanings, faith and 
truth. It is the word used in the Bi- 
ble for faith, belief, truth, confirma- 
tion. 

The beginning of the creation of 
God. The person who laid the foun- 
dation of it when the morning stars 
sang together, and all the sons of God 
shouted for joy. He drew the plan, 



* It is called a new city because every thing belonging- to it is new, when compared with 
the old one ; but the word new, here and elsewhere in the Scripture, must be understood 
to mean a transformation, or a change. Hence a new man, 'in 2 Cor. 5 : 17, signifies a 
man whose heart has been changed from nature to grace. And again, a man who is crea° 
ted anew in Christ Jesus, is a man who has been born again of the water and of the Holy 
Ghost. See Eph. 2 : 10, and John, 3:5. So that the new Jerusalem means a city that 
has been transformed from an old to a new city ; and that it alludes to the church of Christ 
is very evident, for St. Paul tells the Jews, to whom he was then writing, that they had 
already come to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels ; which 
may mean either guardian angels or the ministers of the gospel. 

1. The high priesthood was changed from a finite to an infinite and unchangeabls 
priesthood. See Heb. 7 : 17, 24. 

2. Their sacrifices also changed from a beastly to a human sacrifice, wherein the hu- 



64 NOTES ON THE 

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor 
hot : I would thou wert cold or hot. 

16 So, then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither 
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 



raised the superstructure, and com- 
pleted the whole building himself. 
The Rabbins understood it in this 
sense. Hence the beginning of the 
creation is a title of the Messiah, be- 
cause he laid the foundation of the 
world. iZohar on Gen. fol. 77 : 1. 

15 Neither cold nor hot. Neither 
dead in sin nor alive in righteousness. 
He was neither fit for the land nor 
the dunghill, the church nor the world. 

16 Lukewarm. Milk warm ; be- 
twixt and between. He was neither 
dead in formality nor alive in religion ; 
his zeal had abated, his faith become 



weak, his love cold, and his soul un- 
happy. The cares of life and the de- 
ceitfulness of riches had nearly choked 
the good seed. He retained the form 
but lost the life and power of religion. 
Oh, how many thousands are in the 
same situation ! 

i" will spue thee out of my mouth. 
I will discharge thee from the bowels 
of my mercy and compassion, as a sick 
stomach lukewarm water. This is an 
awful warning to lukewarm profes- 
sors, but especially to ministers who 
have the form of godliness without the 
life and power of religion. May the 



manity and the divinity of the Savior were both united together to make a sufficient obla- 
tion and sacrifice for the sins of the world, Heb. 9:14. 

3. The Levitical law was transformed into the law of liberty from sin. See Heb. 7 : 12. 

4. Their Sabbath has been changed from the last to the first day of the week. See 
chapter 1 : 10. 

5. The light of the law was blended with the light of the glorious gospel of God our 
Savior. 

6. The light of the sun became transformed into that of the glorious Sun of Righteous- 
ness. See chap. 12 : 1, and chap. 21 : 13. 

7. Their faith changed from the shadow to the substance of the body and blood of 
Christ See Heb. 10 : 9, 10. 

8. Their temple was transformed from a literal to a spiritual temple. See chap. 13 : 
14, and 11 t 1. 

9. Their altar changed into Christ our golden altar, and the fire of the altar into the fire 
of the Holy Ghost, which proceeds from him. See chap. 8 : 3-5. 

10. The holiest of holies referred to heaven itself. 

11. Part of their dead members became lively members of Christ's church. 

12. Their paved streets were changed into the golden streets of the heavenly Jerusa- 
lem. See chap. 21 : 21 ; and for the wall, and the gates, and the foundation of the city, 
see chap. 21 : 12-14. 



REVELATION, 



65 



17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with 
goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not that 
thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, 
and naked. 

18 1 counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 



Lord stir you up to duty, and a sense 
of your responsibility. 

17 Rich, and have need of nothing. 
His house was full, his heart empty. 
He could not love God and mammon 
— serve two masters, without esteem- 
ing the one and despising the other. 
He must now determine without de- 
lay whether he should serve Christ or 
the world. He was hesitating whe- 
ther, to return to his merchandise, or 
give himself up entirely to God and 
the ministry. The love of money is 
the root of all evil, and has slain its 
thousands, pierced them through with 
many sorrows. What ! a minister to 
love money more than Jesus and the 
souls which he hath bought with his 
own blood ? God forbid ! 

Thou art wretched and miserahle. 
God, his word, and his conscience 
condemned him. Here, then, is the 
end of wealth — to make men perfectly 
miserable. I seldom or ever met with 
a rich man a good man. How hardly 
shall they that have riches enter the 
kingdom of heaven. The beggar, as 
I before observed, was taken from his 
barrow to heaven ; the rich man from 
a bed of down to perdition. The one 
had every thing but the grace of God, 
the other had nothing but Jesus ; he 



was with him in his last and his dy- 
ing moments. This was better to him 
than thousands of silver and gold. 

The Rabbins say no man is poor 
who has the law, and walks according 
to it : and surely no christian is poor 
who has his Bible and Jesus with him. 

Poor. Rich in pocket, poor in 
grace. Paul was poor, and yet he 
made many rich. This minister was 
rich, yet he made many poor, because 
a stumbling block to weak believers. 

Blind. To his own interest and 
that of th£ church. God did not now, 
as formerly, answer him byUrim' and 
Thummim — by divine light and in- 
spiration. His eye was not single, 
and therefore his whole body was full 
of darkness. His lamp was almost ex- 
tinguished for want of oil. 

Naked. Stripped of holiness. Pro- 
bably he was formerly sanctified ; he 
needs now to be justified ; to lay the 
foundation again of repentance from 
dead works toward God, and faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ. He sought 
wealth and obtained it ; he neglected 
his gifts and graces, and nearly lost 
them, and finally incurred the displea- 
sure of God. 

18 Buy. That is, seek, obtain by 
faith and prayer.* 



* This is a proverbial mode of expression, to show that no person need expect pardon 



66 



NOTES ON THE 



that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou 
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness 
do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that 
thou mayest see. 



Gold tried in the fire. My salva- 
tion, which has been tried in the fire 
and the furnace, and has not been 
consumed, but rather refined and im- 
proved. 

That thou mayest he rich. In faith 
and good works, and an heir of the 
kingdom — give up all for Christ's 
sake, as he gave up his life a ransom 
for thy sake. "He that was rich, 
for your sakes became poor, that ye, 
through his poverty, might be rich." 
Hence ^EJS a-shir betho-rah, 

rich in the law or divine things. Yal- 
kot Simeone, fol. 106 : 2. 

White raiment. Holiness, the wed- 
ding garment. This will Ifimit you 
into the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

Be clothed. Covered with this from 
head to foot, in soul, body, and spirit. 
Holiness becomes the Lord's house, 
especially his ministers. 

That thy nakedness do not appear. 
That the church and the world do not 



discover thy filthiness of flesh and 
spirit. I screened thy nakedness by 
throwing the mantle of charity over 
thy infirmities ; but now, if thou dost 
not repent, I will expose thy naked- 
ness to the world, will take my holy 
Spirit from thee, and leave thee to 
perish in thy sins. 

Anoint thine eyes. Try, prove, ex- 
amine thyself by my word and Spirit^ 
and know and feel of a truth that it is 
a bitter and grievous thing to depart 
from God and the path of duty. 

That thou mayest see. How far 
thou hast wandered away from the 
path of duty. You have neglected 
family and secret prayer, fasting and 
abstinence, reading and searching the 
Scriptures, instructing your children 
and servants in religion. The sheep 
have not been fed, the lambs are de- 
voured by wolves, the ordinances of 
my house, Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper, and visiting the poor from 



from God without repentance anrl faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. But some may ask, is 
not this justification by works ? By no means ; faith is the gift of God, and conviction is 
of his Spirit ; and repentance is the effect of conviction. So that God is the author of 
these talents, and we are to improve them to his glory. For instance, we will say thas 
one degree of faith is a belief; that Christ died for me as well as for all men ; that he is 
able and willing to save me; and that I now, even at this moment, need his salvation, or 
else I shall be eternally miserable. Now if we allow this to be faith, we must admit that 
God knew this through eternity. But his knowledge of the fact will not save us ; we must 
know it for ourselves before we can be happy. And again : God cannot repent of sin, for he 
never has committed it ; consequently, it is on his part to convince us of sin, and our pari 
to repent of it. 



REVELATION. 



07 



19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten ; be zealous 
therefore, and repent. 

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any 



house to house neglected. Have I re- 
quired these things at thy hand ? saith 
the Lord of hosts. Did I put thee 
into the ministry to neglect thy duty, 
or to discharge it ? Therefore I will 
require the blood of the slain at thy 
hand. Reader, take warning by this, 
for thou art the man : and now the axe 
is laid to the root of the tree, and eve- 
ry tree, minister and member, who 
bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be 
hewn down and cast into the fire. 

19 As many as I love I chasten. 
Scourge them with afflictions, the 
loss of property, children, parents, 
wife, husband. I correct them as a 
father a child ; but it is in mercy, that 
they may not go astray : and " if we 
are without chastisement, whereof all 
are partakers, then are we aliens to 
the commonwealth of Israel, and not 
citizens of the household of faith." 

* Rebuke, Openly, to their face, I 
reprove, blame, threaten, admonish 



them to repent ; and if they do not, I 
cut them off as rotten branches. 

20 Island at the door. That is, 
the front door of the heart. The thief 
(devil) enters by the back door, by 
fraud and flattery ; the Savior, the 
front door, by faith and repentance. 
He stands a friend to save, not an 
enemy to plunder and destroy ; there- 
fore the door must be opened freely, 
not forcibly. The back door must be 
bolted and barred against the enemy, 
the front door opened wide to receive 
the Savior. Son, daughter, give me 
thy heart. Let your reply be, 

" Take my heart, 'tis all my store ? 
"More should'st thou have if I had more." 

And knock. By my Word and 
Spirit ; by my ministers and mem- 
bers ; by my judgments and mercies : 
they all cry aloud, open the door of 
thy heart and let in Jesus. He is not 



* The Jewish law inflicted a punishment of thirty-nine stripes on persons guilty of petty 
crimes ; but sometimes they punished the innocent as well as the guilty. St. Paul was 
punished five times in this manner, and that unjustly. See 2 Cor. 11 : 24; Luke, 23 : 22 ; 
Deut. 25 : 3. There is a punishment nearly the same as this inflicted on soldiers in 
the army of Great Britain who have been guilty of drunkenness, desertion, stealing, 
striking their officers, &c. But the latter is more severe than the former. The poor 
criminal is sometimes sentenced to receive one hundred lashes ; and these are inflicted in 
the most severe manner, until the victim frequently faints before he receives the whole of 
his punishment ; and the flesh is cut so deep on his back that it requires weeks to heal the 
wound. Cruel and unmerciful proceedings in a christian land ! If God were to deal so 
with us, instead of being in existence at present we should be now suffering the ven- 
geance of eternal fire. 



C8 



NOTES ON THE 



man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to 
him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me 
in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down 
with my father in his throne. 

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. 



an enemy, nor an infidel, but a friend, 
a brother. 

It is a custom in the East, among 
the Jews, when a stranger goes to 
visit another to whom he has a letter 
of introduction, to knock at the front 
door, and not to enter till the master 
comes. He addresses him with the 
usual mode of salutation — shalom la- 
chem — peace be unto thee. The com- 
pliment is returned by saying, shalom 
sholem. He then welcomes him with 
ba-rach-a-bo, come in, thou blessed of 
the Lord. He then prepares a good 
supper and a bed for his guest. He 
finds out by this time he is a brother 
beloved, and not an infidel. This min- 
ister had heretofore shut the door 
against his Divine Redeemer. After 
some time he returns in peace, stands 
and knocks for admission until his 
locks are wet with the dew of the 



night. It is now his duty as master of 
his own house to open the door, and 
say ba-rach-a-bo, come in thou bless- 
ed of the Lord, and take free and full 
possession of my heart, and let us eat 
and drink with each other once more. 

If any man hear my voice. Obey 
my commands, submit to my authori- 
ty, and runs and opens the door. See 
verse 4. 

21 To him that overcometh. That 
endures to the end : who is determin- 
ed to conquer, though he die. 

Sit on my throne. That I have re- 
signed to him as Prince Regent — law- 
ful heir. I have placed him in the 
high and holy office of the ministry 
in the church, till time shall be no 
more. 

Even as I also overcame. I have 
conquered the world, the flesh, and 
the devil. Go thou and do likewise. 



REVELATION. 



69 



CHAPTER IV. 



After this I looked^ and behold, a door was opened 
in heaven : and the first voice which I heard, was as it 
were of a trumpet talking with me ; which said, Come up 
hither, and I will shew thee things which must be here- 
after. 



1 After this. He now commences 
a series of explanations of the Old Tes- 
tament prophecies which remained at 
that time to be fulfilled : the three for- 
mer chapters pointed out the corrup- 
tions andbackslidings which had crept 
into the seven churches of Asia, 
some of the prophecies were no doubt 
revealed to John before his banishment 
to the Isle of Patmos, and some after 
this ; but all probably written and 
compiled there. 

A door was opened. That is of re- 
velation, or an exposition given of 
these prophecies. 

In heaven. In the church, the hea- 
ven on earth, paradise of God, the 
abode of the blessed or happy. See 
chap. 2:7. It is called the kingdom 



of heaven, also the heavenly Jerusa- 
lem. Matt. 3 :2, 4; 17 : ll/l2. This 
is a title given to the Jewish church. 
Hear, O heavens : that is, listen, at- 
tend, obey. Deut. 32 : 1. Isa. 1 : 2. 
There are two distinct heavens men- 
tioned in this book, the church on 
earth and the church in glory ; and to 
understand the Revelation this dis- 
tinction must be kept in view ; the one 
is the church militant, the other the 
church triumphant. See chap. 15 : 5 ; 
Isa. 6G : 22.* 

The first voice. That is of the pro- 
phet or his prophecy, which seems to 
refer particularly to Isaiah. Ch. 6 : 2. 

A trumpet. Loud, clear, solemn, 
alarming. This seems to be the voice 
of a prophet who was a spiritual priest 



* In chap. 14 : 6, St. John saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlast- 
ing Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth : so that heaven here must undoubt- 
edly mean the church, and this is the sense in which we must understand it in chap. 15 : 5, 
for the seven apostles of the seven churches of Asia are represented as coming out of the 
temple of the tabernacle to accomplish the service of God ; and the throne here is the 
same as the throne spoken of in the first clause of the 21st verse of the former chapter, 
and there it is said that Christ had overcome and left that throne to his successors, and 
sat down upon a more honorable one in glory with his heavenly Father. 



'7 



NOTES ON THE 



2 And immediately I was in the Spirit : and behold, a 
throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and 
a sardine stone : and there was a rainbow round about 
the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 



also, and whose business it was to 
sound the trumpet to prepare the peo- 
ple for their morning and evening de- 
votions. 

Come up here. And I will give you 
a full explanation of my prophecy. 
See chap. 22 : 8. 

Which will he hereafter. In a few 
years, and also at the expiration of the 
thousand years. 

2 In the Spirit. Of prophecy and 
devotion. 

A throne. The high and holy of- 
fice of the gosgel ministry : David's 
spiritual throne in the heavenly Jeru- 
salem, (Psalm 122 : 5,) where justice 
and mercy can be mingled, and " God 
be just, and the justifier of him who 
believeth in Jesus." This refers to 
the mercy-seat over which the cheru- 
bim (an emblem of the ministry) 
spread their golden wings. 

Was set. Fixed, settled, establish- 
ed in the church ; as the kingdom is to 
last for ever, the throne must also 
last for ever. " Justice and judgment 
are the habitation of thy throne, O 
God, for ever and ever." Ps. 89 : 14. 

One sat. Our spiritual Solomon, 
but a far greater personage than the 
king of Israel. He formerly sat on 



this throne in his church, but now he 
sits on his great white throne in glory* 
His ministers are his successors to the 
throne until time shall be no more. 
May the Great Head of the church 
help them to give a faithful account 
of their stewardship. 

3 Like a jasper. Pure and white, 
without spot or blemish. 

A sardine stone. Of a beautiful 
blood red color* an emblem of Him 
who came from Bozrah with his gar- 
ments dyed red in the blood of the 
atonement, as well as that of his ene- 
mies. 

A rainbow. The glory of God 
which surrounded the throne. The 
glory at this time had departed from 
Israel and rested on the church of 
Christ. God forbid that it should ever 
depart from it ; it will not, from any 
branch of it, as long as the ministers 
and people are humble and faithful. 
The rainbow was an indication of a 
plentiful spiritual shower which was 
now about to be poured down on the 
church and the world, or a second pen- 
tecost. This is the light, no doubt, 
in which the church viewed it in 
John's day.* 

An emerald. A stone of a beauti- 



* In Judea the early rain fell in the month of November, the time of sowing the seed ; 
and the latter rain fell in the month of April, when the corn was beginning to get full in 



REVELATION. 



71 



4 And round about the throne were four and twenty 
seats ; and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders 
sitting, clothed in white raiment ; and they had on their 
heads crowns of gold. 



ful grass green color — an emblem of 
great prosperity to the church. This 
is the Lord's garden, which he greatly 
delights to water and bless. 

4 And round about the throne. 
Here and there, in every direction, 
and in every church. 

Seats. Of judgment, offices in the 
ministry and the church for the spi- 
ritual Sanhedrin, that is to administer 
justice to all, saint and sinner. It was 
customary for magistrates, when try- 
ing civil cases, to sit on a mat or a 



couch. Our Lord and his apostles 
were also in a sitting posture when 
preaching. Matt. 5:1; see chap, 
14 : 18; 1 Tim. 5 : 17. 

Four and twenty elders. Seniors, 
Trgto-fiwregovr, or fathers of the church ; 
ministers and members ; overseers of 
it, who had been with our Lord from 
the beginning, and were eye witnesses 
of his miracles, death, sufferings, re- 
surrection, and ascension to glory. 
Some of them were still living, and 
ornaments of the church. O what 



the ear. These showers came but seldom, and when they did come, produced great plenty 
of rain, and generally their coming was signified by a rainbow. These elders are com- 
pared to a rainbow because they were in the world before the Holy Spirit was poured 
down upon the church at the day of Pentecost, and this when the seed of salvation was 
sown among both Jews and Gentiles ; and these elders still sitting round about the throne 
upon the four and twenty seats, brought to the mind of St. John the showers of latter rain 
that were now about to be poured out upon the church and the world in general ; and this 
when the Jews were ripe for destruction, and the Gentiles ripe for salvation. See chap. 
14 : 15, 20. The rainbow, in the days of Noah, was a token or sign of the everlasting 
covenant which God made with him and the world. Gen. 9 : 17. And so it was with these 
four and twenty elders ; they were a representation of the new and everlasting covenant 
made between Christ and the whole world on mount Calvary. Rom. 5:10; Heb. 8 : 13. 
Some are of opinion these elders were in heaven itself. This cannot be, unless we suppose 
there were no more than this number there ; but it is more probable there were four and 
twenty thousand there at this time, If they were in heaven what reason could John have for 
saying he saw so few out of such a vast number? And not only so, but a conversation 
is said to have taken place on earth between the apostle himself and one of these elders, 
see chap. 5:5. And we know that the four beasts and the four and twenty elders must 
have been in Asia, for St. John saw the Lamb in the midst of the throne, and in the midst 
of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders. See chap. 5:6; here he has reference 
to chapter 1 : 13, where he says he saw our Savior in the midst of the seven golden 
candlesticks. 



72 



NOTES ON THE 



5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and 
thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of 
fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits 
of God. 

6 And before the throne there ivas a sea of glass, like 



blessed, holy, happy men ; men who 
had seen Jesus, and known him per- 
sonally from the beginning. 1 Peter, 
5:1; James, 5 : 14 ; Acts, 20 : 17, 
28. Five hundred brethren of this 
description were living when Paul 
wrote his epistle to the Corinthians ; 
some of the number, however, had 
fallen asleep in Christ; but in Asia, 
among the seven churches, there were 
twenty-four of them. They were the 
council or senate of the church, by 
whom all ecclesiastical disputes were 
to be adjusted. St. John refers here 
to the council of the Jews, composed 
of twenty-four elders; they were the 
most wise, learned, and judicious men 
in the nation. Luke, 22 : 26 ; Acts, 
5 : 21. The number in small towns 
was twenty -three, with the chief 
Rabbi or ruler of the synagogue as 
president, which made the even num- 
ber of twenty-four ; but in Jerusalem 
the Sanhedrin consisted of seventy 
elders. Our Lord's seventy disciples 
referred to this council. 

White garments. Holy garments ; 
they were justified and sanctified, 
prepared or ready to step into glory 
to be with Jesus for ever. God grant 
that we may be prepared to follow 
them. 

Crowns of gold. Of honor and glo- 
ry. Every person who beheld their 
heavenly and angelic appearance fear- 



ed, reverenced, and obeyed them, as 
a child would a parent. Isa. 62 : 3. 
Hence the Rabbins speak of two 
crowns — the crown of law to him who 
keeps it, and a crown of glory in 
heaven. 

5 Out of the throne. From the min- 
istry and the spiritual Sanhedrin of 
four and twenty elders. They were 
now in session, deliberating on the 
present dangers and difficulties of 
the church. 

Thunderings. Admonitions of the 
law and the gospel, that is, from spi- 
ritual mount Sinai. > 

And lightnings. Convictions and 
conversions ; when these cease in any 
part of the church the glory will as- 
suredly depart from it. "Give me 
children," says Rachel, " or I die." 

And voices. That of weeping and 
rejoicing, as in the time of a great re- 
vival. 

Seven lamps of fire. Trimmed and 
burning, waiting for the spiritual 
bridegroom to come to the marriage 
supper of the Lamb, viz. the minis- 
ters of the seven churches of Asia. 

Which are the seven spirits of God. 
That is, the ministering spirits of the 
seven churches. They are Ezekiel's 
seven living champions who act, think, 
speak, and live for God. 

6 A sea of glass. The sea of sal- 
vation, the gospel sea, because free 



REVELATION, 



7 3 



unto crystal : And in the midst of the throne, and round 



for all to wash in. Chap. 22 : 1. It 
is compared to glass because so clear, 
pure, perfect, simple, that a wayfar- 
ing man, though a fool, need not err 
therein. It is God's mirror, by which 
we see our own heart and that of 
others. "It is a discerner of the 
thoughts and intents of the heart." 
It is like the portrait on the wall, the 
eye follows you wherever you go. 
Hence tfu^^ ya-ma do-re-tha, 
the sea of the law in which the priests 
purify themselves, called such be- 
cause of its purity, justice, equity, 
simplicity. Targum. The Ethiopean 
has left glass out of the text ; the Sy- 
riac has, as a sea of glass. John evi- 
dently alludes to 1 Kings, 7 : 23, 
p^fa yam moo-zak, the solid 
transparent sea, in reference to the 
frozen ocean, called mare glaciale. 
Poetically, the glass sea so celebrated 
among Jews and Gentiles. Hence, 
ya-zooJc ke-mo a-ven, as hard as a stone, 
Job, 41 : 24, and is called J?2^72 W 
the clear transparent mirror. Job, 37 : 



18. The brazen sea makes no sense 
whatever. The christians stood on 
this crystal sea by faith. Chap. 16 : 
2; 1 Cor. 15 : 1.* 

Four beasts. Four of the twelve 
apostles. These were the spiritual 
oxen who sustained the whole burden 
and weight of the gospel on their 
shoulders. 2 Chron. 4 : 3, 4. Proba- 
bly Paul, Apollos, Cephas and John. 
Ezekiel calls them ft^H che-yoth, 
living cherubs, who defended the way 
of the tree of life. Phil. 1 : 17. They 
are distinguished as living, flaming 
cherubs, from the cherubims in Solo- 
mon's temple, which were without life, 
or inanimate. The prophet explains 
his meaning in chap. 10 : 20. " The 
living creatures," he observes, " are 
the cherubs which I saw in the vision 
by the river Chebar." See chap. 1 : 
3, 5. They are called such because 
they combine various characters, such 
as a man, for wisdom; an ox, for la- 
bor ; a lion, for courage ; an eagle, for 
swiftness, (zeal.) These cherubs were 



■ This is only comparatively speaking. The Gospel is compared to the sea. 1. Be- 
cause by it knowledge was to cover the earth as the waters do the sea. Isa. 11 s 9 ; Rom. 
10 : 18 ; Col. 1 : 23. 2. It is probably compared to the sea because of its depth of wis- 
dom. 3. It may be compared to the sea because of the rich blessings which it brings to 
every nation that receives it and lives according to it. Were it not for the light of the 
glorious Gospel of God our Savior, we would be heathens, bowing down to stocks and 
stones, or worshipping an ox, or a calf, or perhaps a dog, as the Indians, instead of the 
only true God; or be like others, burning our first born alive in the fire to atone for our 
sins. How shall we escape, therefore, if we neglect so great salvation ? Certainly it is 
impossible. 4. The Gospel is compared to glass or to crystal, because it is so clear and 
easy to be understood, and so free from impurity and error. Isa. 35 : 8. 5. The reason, 
especially, why it is compared to the sea, you will find when I come to the last clause of 
this verse. 

10 



74 XOTES ON THE 

about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and 
behind. 



the fathers of spiritual life to a world 
dead in trespasses and sins. Hence, 
in Christ Jesus (says Paul) I have 
begotten you through the gospel. 1 
Cor. 4 : 15. One was the shadow, 
the other the substance, and the re- 
semblance is very striking indeed. 1. 
Solomon's cherubim were made out 
of the wood of the olive tree. 1 Kings, 
6 : 23. Christ's ministers are made 
out of himself, the good olive tree-^- 
are bone of his bone, and flesh of his 
flesh. 2. They were covered all over 
with gold. Christ's ministers are 
clothed with salvation as with a gar- 
ment ; their raiment is of wrought 
gold. 3. They stood above the mercy 
seat. The apostles ruled the church 
in Christ's absence ; they were the 
crown which adorned the woman's 
head. Chap. 12 : 1 ; Heb. 13 ; 7. 4. 
They spread their wings over the 
mercy seat. The apostles spread their 
wings of protection over the ministry, 
to prevent improper persons from en- 
tering into it. 5. Their eyes were 
looking on the congregation. The 
eyes of the apostles were watching 
over the church for good, and not for 
evil. 6. Their feet were permanently 



fixed on the throne. The apostles 
were steadfast, immovable, always 
abounding in the work of the Lord ; 
and the ministry is perpetual, to con- 
tinue in the church for ever. Amen. 
This is the root from which 
Eve, is derived, because the mother 
of all living. The church is called 
Ti^n clie-yath, in Ps. 68 : 10, because 
the mother of spiritual life to all be- 
lievers; and St. Paul calls the church 
the mother of us all, in allusion to 
Eve. Gal. 4 : 26 ; chap. 12 : 1. t\Vm 
is evidently a distinguishing and pre- 
eminent title which cannot be render- 
ed living creatures, as brutes and in- 
sects are such. These four apostles 
were the only survivors of the whole 
twelve, and in a short time after this 
all of them died martyrs for Jesus ; 
they all sealed their testimony with 
their own blood. Blessed, holy, and 
happy men, you now rest from your 
labors and your works do follow you. 
But how many of your children in the 
ministry are following 3 - ou as you fol- 
lowed Christ ? We fear but few in- 
deed. Ezek. 1 : 8.* 

Eyes before. May mean scrutiniz- 



* There was in Solomon's temple a costal sea, which was borne up by twelve brazen 
images, representing oxen ; their hinder parts were inward and their faces outward ; three 
of them looked towards the north, and three towards the south, and three towards the 
east, and three towards the west. 2 Chron. 4 : 4. The crystal sea was a representation 
of the Gospel, and the twelve oxen a representation of the twelve apostles. Their faces 
towards the four quarters of the globe indicated that through the twelve apostles the gos- 
pel should be carried into the east, the west, the north, and the south ; and having their 



REVELATION. 



75 



7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second 
beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, 
and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 



ing eyes, which they exerted in the 
government and the affairs of the 
church. 

Eyes before and behind. Or look- 
ing every way, may mean young min- 
isters whom they had sent before to 
prepare the way for the introduction 
of the gospel. They are called eyes 
chap. 5 : 6, and Psalm 104 : 4 ; and 
those behind may mean the ministers 
they left in charge of the churches 
during their absence. Chap, 1 : 14. 
They apprised the apostles by letter 
of the affairs of the church. Acts, 
20 : 8. 

The Rabbins say the oxen in Solo- 
mon's temple had eyes looking every 
way ; some looking on the congrega- 
tion and some on the world. These 
four spiritual oxen had eyes before 
and behind in this respect also, some 
looking forward to the conversion of 
the whole world, others looking behind 
on the welfare of the congregation, or 
watching over them for good. 

"Wise and learned Rabbins among 
the Jews were said to have eyes be- 
fore and behind, that is, they knew 
every thing. The apostles had su- 
pernatural light ; they were inspired 
to see into the past, present, and fu- 
ture. Hence b3ffl'n "OS a-ne hash-Mi- 
The eyes of wisdom. Zohar on Deut. 
119 : 3. 



7 Like a lion. He had the pro- 
minent features of the lion ; fierce, 
bold, undaunted, majestic. He was a 
terror to evil-doers, and for the praise 
of them that did well. He was a 
boanerges, or son of thunder. The 
lion was the standard of Judah, from 
which we have the word Jew ; and 
as Peter was the apostle of the Jews, 
the lion was therefore a fit emblem of 
him. The lion is king of the forest, 
and a terror to all other animals ; a 
fit emblem of boldness, majesty, pow- 
er, zeal, dominion ; these were promi- 
nent features in Peter's character as 
a minister of Christ. 

Like a calf. More properly an ox, 
strong, laborious, indefatigable in his 
labors, he worked while the day last- 
ed, as the night was at hand in which 
no man could work ; his labors ended 
with his life. Probably St. John is 
here represented under the emblem of 
an ox. The ox was the standard of 
Ephraim. It is the most pure, per- 
fect, powerful, patient and laborious 
of all animals. These were promi- 
nent features in John's character. 
The cherub of Ezekiel and the ox 
here mean the same thing. 

The face of a man. A soldier, a wise, 
warlike man, bold, courageous, zeal- 
ous, active, energetic, faithful. This 
may allude to Apollos, whose name 



hinder parts inward, and their faces outward, signified that the apostles should have to 
turn their backs on their relations, and face the world with the everlasting Gospel, St, 
Paul compares the apostles to oxen in 1 Cor. 9 : 10 ; Acts, 20 : 38. 



76 



NOTES ON THE 



8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about 
liim ; and they ivere full of eyes within : and they rest not 



implies this, and who was a brave 
soldier of the captain of our salvation. 
He was of Alexandria, a place fa- 
mous for sailors and soldiers, a warlike 
people. On the standard of Reuben 
was the face of a man ; he may have 
been of that tribe. 

A flying eagle, Swift, powerful, 
learned, majestic ; a real missionary, 
who went every where preaching 
Christ and him crucified, the Lord 
working with him and confirming his 
word by signs and wonders following. 
The eagle is the king of the feather- 
ed race, is more wise and sagacious, 
and lofty in flight than any other bird. 
The majestic flight of the eagle has 
been the song of the sage as well as 
that of the poet. St. Paul resembled 
the eagle in this respect ; he was the 
most wise, learned, active, zealous, 
and energetic in his movements, of any 
of the apostles ; he soared aloft as it 
were on eagles' wings, and carried 
the gospel into the most remote parts 



of the world, even places inaccessible 
to the Roman army. " He preached 
it to every creature under heaven." 
He went into Asia, Africa, and Eu- 
rope ; also into Italy, Gaul, Spain, 
England, Ireland, and Scotland ; was 
absent fourteen years from his native 
land. The eagle, therefore, the stan- 
dard of his country, the Roman em- 
pire, was a fit emblem of him. 

8 Each had six wings.* 1. Wings 
may mean gifts and graces, or spiritual 
endowments, such as love, zeal, faith, 
prayer, wisdom, power. 2. They may 
mean the prominent features in each 
of the four beasts, as described above. 
3. Wings may mean the gifts bestow- 
ed on the church, such as that of pro- 
phecy, teaching, miracles, healing, 
helps in the government of the church, 
and diversities of tongues. These 
were auxiliaries to spread the gospel 
throughout the world. Men with 
these gifts accompanied the apostles 
into foreign countries. Acts, 20 : 4. 



* Wings in the Scripture are used to represent various things. Sometimes the wind is 
said to have wings, because of its rising and falling. Ps. 104 : 3, and Hosea, 4 : 19. And 
again, riches are said to have wings, because they are uncertain, always on the move like 
a bird. Prov. 23 : 5. The power and protection of the Almighty are compared to eagles' 
wings* Exod. 19 : 4; Psalm 17 : 8. And in chapter 9 : 9 of this book, they have refer- 
ence to the wings of an army. So that wings in Scripture seldom signify the same thing, 
and the only way to find out their meaning is to consider how they will apply to the idea 
they have reference to. To say that a lion, an ox, or a man had wings, literally, would be 
inconsistent ; but to suppose that through the gifts and graces which God had bestowed 
on these apostles at the day of Pentecost, they resembled a lion, an ox, a soldier, and an 
eagle, i, e. in their spiritual endowments, would be no way inconsistent. 



REVELATION". 



77 



day and night, saving, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almigh- 
ty, which was, and is, and is to come. 

9 And when those beasts give glory, and honor, and 
thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever 
and ever, 

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him 
that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for 
ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, 
saying, 



4. As wings simply mean a covering, 
protection, ornament for the soul and 
body, and are metaphorical, probably 
St. Paul alludes to Isaiah's wings in 
his epistle to the Ephesians, and calls 
them armor, or the wings of protec- 
tion : he exhorts them to take the 
sword of the Spirit in the right hand 
and the shield of faith in the left, the 
preparation of the gospel of peace for 
the feet, the helmet of salvation for 
the head, the girdle of truth to adorn 
the body, and the breast plate of right- 
eousness to protect the heart. Eph. 
6 : 14-17. 

Eyes within. Their minds were 
so thoroughly illuminated by the Holy 
Spirit as to be able to comprehend 
with all saints the length and breadth, 
the depth and height of the love of 
God ; they could see into the past, 
present, and future. 

They rest not clay and night. They 
talk of Jesus by day and dream of 
him by night ; they begin the day in 
his fear and end it in his favor. They 
meditate in his law day and night, 
and nothing shall harm them, because 
they rest beneath the shadow of his 
wings. 



They cry holy, holy, holy. Super- 
latively such ; holy above all beings 
whether in heaven or earth. The 
Savior is holy in his human nature, 
holy in his divine nature, and holy in 
his ministry. The Father is holy, 
the Son is holy, and the Spirit is 
holy. 

Lord God Almighty. The Jeho- 
vah which is, which was, and which 
shall be. Here then is a proof beyond 
doubt of the divinity of our blessed 
Savior. 1318 A-do-ne, the ruler of 
the whole universe. -""-.a E-lo- 
him, the Creator of all things. 1*73 
Sha-dy, the upholder of all things, 
the Almighty. fTfn Ye-ho-wah, 
the self-existent, independent, and 
unoriginated Jehovah. The eternity, 
past, present, and future are all pre- 
sent with him now. 

9 Glory. As our high priest. 
Honor. As our king. 

Thanks. As our prophet, Savior, 
Redeemer. 

10 And worship him. Fear, reve- 
rence, serve, obey him, that is, Christ. 
They fell prostrate at his feet as their 
God and Savior. We are command- 
ed to kiss the Son, submit to him, love, 



78 



XOTES ON THE 



11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and 
honor, and power : for thou hast created all things, and 
for thy pleasure they are and were created. 



serve, obey him. The word 12 bar, 
son, essence, germ, is Chaldee. ~\2 
ben, is the word used by the Jews in 
general for son, but is equivocal in its 
meaning ; it is applied sometimes to 
the offspring of animals as well as man. 
If ^ was used here, the Jews might 
hesitate and say, if we worship ben, 
the son, we may be guilty of idolatry ; 
but if we worship bar, the real es- 
sence, Son of God, a person of the 
same natue _and duration with him, 
then we are safe and sure, we need 
not hesitate. All genuine christians 
worship him as Jehovah himself, and 
will do it while the world shall last. 
See chap. 2 : 17. 

Cast their crowns before the throne. 
Stripped themselves of all honor and 
glory, and conferred all the honor and 
glory of their salvation on Jesus. 



1 1 Thou art worthy to receive honor. 
As our Creator, Preserver, Redeem- 
er. Advocate, Judge, King. 

For thy pleasure they are and were 
created. That is, to glorify him here 
and to enjoy him for ever hereafter. 
This then is the end for which every 
son and daughter of Adam was crea- 
ted, that is, for his (God's) good plea- 
sure. Glory to God in the highest, 
he has "no pleasure in the death of 
the wicked, but rather that he turn 
from his wicked way and live." 
" Turn ye, turn ye," says he, "for 
why will ye die, O house of Israel." 
" Come unto me all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden" with sin, " and I 
will give you rest." Here then is 
encouragement, poor sinner, and this 
from the lips of Deity himself. 



CHAPTER V. 

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the 
throne a book written within and on the back side, seal- 
ed with seven seals. 



1 In his right hand. Under his spired the prophets to write it, and 
power, control, influence. He was John to publish it to both Jew and 
the author and finisher of it. He in- Gentile ; and none but the Lion of 



REVELATION, 



79 



2 And 1 saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud 
voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the 
seals thereof ? 

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under 
the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look 
thereon, 

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy 
to open, and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 



the tribe of Judali could illustrate it. 

A book. A parchment roll, con- 
taining seven remarkable prophecies 
which remained at that time to be 
fulfilled, viz. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Eze- 
kiel, Daniel, Joel, Zachariah, and 
Micah. They were all written in 
Hebrew, on one parchment, and con- 
cealed from the world until the pre- 
sent time. And when on the eve of 
fulfilment, they were revealed to John 
first, and through him to the seven 
churches of Asia. They contained 
lamentations, mourning and woes. 
Ez. 2 : 9, 10. 

Sealed. Hid, concealed, not re- 
vealed, and were sure, certain of be- 
ing fulfilled. See Dan. 9 : 24 ; Is, 
29 : 11 ; chap, 22 : 10. 

2 A mighty angel. A heavenly 
messenger, the prophet Isaiah, who 
is called by the Rabbins the prince of 
prophets. See chap. 22 : 9. He was 
sent at this time with a special mes- 
sage to John in the Isle of Patmos, to 
announce to him the fulfilment of his 
prophecy. These heavenly messen- 
gers are always ready and willing to 
fulfil God's will to man. 

Who is worthy. "Who is able, has 
sufficient wisdom and understanding, 



to open, reveal the mysteries of the 
book ? Surely none but the King of 
kings and Lord of lords, who is infi- 
nite in knowledge and unlimited in 
power. He, of course, who inspired 
it, can explain it. 1 Pet. 1:11. 

To open the book. Read and ex- 
plain it. To seal, among the Rabbins, 
is to shut up, conceal ; to open, is to 
illustrate, make clear, manifest. 
Luke, 24 : 32, 

3 No man in heaven. In the church 
militant nor in the church triumphant, 
neither man nor angel, wise nor un- 
wise, learned nor unlearned, could inter- 
pret it, because they know but in part 
and prophecy but inlpart. 1 Cor. 13 : 9. 

4 i" wept much. Was deeply soli- 
citous to have a correct understand- 
ing of these predictions which refer 
to my own nation as well as to that of 
the Gentiles. I wept, fasted, prayed, 
interceded with God, to reveal these 
things to me. He heard and answer- 
ed my prayer, and sent his angel to 
show unto his servant John the things 
which must shortly come to pass. 
Chap. 1 : 1. This is the only way 
to arrive at a correct knowledge of the 
holy scriptures, because " he has hid 
these things from the wise and learn- 



ftGTES on the 



5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not ; be- 
hold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, 
hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven 
seals thereof. 

6 And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and 
of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a 



ed, and revealed them unto babes." 
Unless we read and search the scrip- 
tures for ourselves, and this by faith 
and prayer, we shall remain ignorant 
of them as long as we live, 

5 One of the elders. One of the 
four and twenty venerable fathers of 
the church. Chap. 4 : 4. 

The Lion. Prince, leader, head of 
it. The lion is an emblem of majesty, 
power, dominion, terror, dread. 

Of Judah. This is the tribe from 
which our Lord descended. It was 
to remain distinct until Shiloh came, 
and then all distinction was to be for 
ever lost. And this distinction has 
been lost for the last eighteen hun- 
dred years; therefore Shiloh must 
have come, and Jesus of Nazareth 
must be the very person, for the pro- 
phet declares that "unto him shall 
the gathering of the people be." 



The Root of David. David's Lord 
as well as David's Son. Ps. 110 : 1. 
He was his Lord according to his di- 
vine nature ; his Son according to his 
human nature ; he was of the house 
of David. Luke, 2:4; Is. 11 : 10. 
This is the reason why he is called 
the King of the Jews, because both 
God and man. God was their king 
spiritually, and David their king lite- 
rally ; he ruled in the church and God 
in heaven ; but Christ rules in both ; 
is head of his church, God over all, 
and blessed for ever. Amen. 

6 A lamb. Mild, gentle, humble, 
patient, harmless, inoffensive, pure, 
perfect, spotless, without guile or sin, 
" The Lamb of God which taketh 
away the sin of the world." Rea- 
der, pray that he may take away all 
your sins, for no other person can do 
it.* 



* There is a beautiful analogy between the Jewish lamb which was sacrificed for their 
passover, and Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was slain for our passover. See Ex. 12, &c. 

1. The lamb is the most innocent and inoffensive of all the animal creation. It licks 
the butcher's hand when about to shed its blood. And so it was with the Lamb of God ; 
he was the most innocent, inoffensive, lovely being- that ever appeared in human shape. 
He even prayed for his butchers when they were going to shed his most precious blood — 
" Father, (says he,) forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke, 23 : 34. 

2. A lamb is the most useful of all animals ; its flesh is food for the most delicate ap- 



REVELATION, 81 

Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven 



Slain. From the foundation of the 
world. When Adam and Eve sinned, 
his soul, in anticipation, was then made 
an offering for sin. This was shadow- 
ed forth from one generation to ano- 
ther until he appeared in the flesh to 



die for sin. The blood of bulls and 
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, 
all pointed to his blood which was to 
be shed for many for the remission of 
sins, but could never take away the 
guilt or dominion of sin as pertaining 



petite ; its wool is excellent for clothing. And so it is with the Lamb of God ; his body 
is food for both saint and sinner ; his blood is drink indeed for the soul that hungers and 
thirsts after righteousness. And not only this, but he strips the poor penitent sinner of his 
filthy rags, and clothes him from head to foot with the garment of holiness. 

3. The lamb was to be without blemish. And so it is with the Lamb of God ; he was 
free from actual and original sin. See chap. 1 : 13. 

4. The lamb had to be killed in the evening before sun-down. And Jesus, the Lamb 
of God, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and blessed it, and brake, 
and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat ; this is my body which is broken for 
you. And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of 
it : for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of 
sins. See Matt. 26 : 26-28, and 1 Cor. 11 : 24. 

5. The lamb had to be roasted with fire, and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened 
bread. Jesus, the Lamb of God, had to pass through the fire of persecution before we 
could feast on him by faith ; and if we ever eat this passover, it must be with the bitter 
herbs of repentance, and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. A man who 
comes to Christ for pardon, if he expects to obtain it, must be as free from hypocrisy and 
insincerity as flour is from leaven before mixed and baked into bread ; we must purge out 
the <s\& leaven, that we may become a new lump, as Christ our passover is sacrificed for 
us. See 1 Cor. 5 : 7, and chap. 2 : 17 of this book. 

6. The blood of the lamb had to be sprinkled upon the two side posts and on the upper 
door posts of the houses wherein they had eaten it. This was for a token or sign upon 
their houses, that when the Lord passed through the land of Egypt that night to destroy 
all the first born, (both man and beast,) he might pass over them and save them from his 
severe judgments. And so it is with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; it must be 
sprinkled upon our souls and bodies, for a token that we are the children of God ; so that 
when the Most High is going to pour out his wrath upon the world, at the day of judg- 
ment, he may pass over us, or save us from it. 

7. The bones of the lamb were not to be broken. See Ex. 12 : 46. A bone of him was not 
broken, for the Roman soldiers came first and brake the legs of the two malefactors that 
were crucified with him ; but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, 
they brake not his legs. See John, 19 : 33. This was done that the scripture might 
be fulfilled, which said, «< A bone of him shall not be broken."_ Num. 9 : 12. 

11 



82 



NOTES ON THE 



eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into 
all the earth. 



to the conscience. Wherefore, when 
he (Messiah) cometh into the world, 
he saith " in sacrifices and offerings, 
and burnt offerings for sin, thon hast 
had no pleasure ; a human body (for 
the divine Shekinah) hast thou pre- 
pared for me :" then said he, " Lo, I 
come, in the beginning of the roll 
(Genesis) it is written of me, I delight 
to do thy will, O my God ; yea, thy 
law is engraven on the table of my 
heart." Ps. 40 : 6, 7. The offering 
up of Isaac on Mount Mori ah prefi- 
gured the offering up of Jesus on 
Mount Calvary. He was then led to 
Pontius Pilate's bar " as a lamb to 
the slaughter, (to be killed,) and as a 
sheep before her shearers is dumb, 
(with silence,) so he opened not his 
mouth. He was taken from prison 
and from judgment, and who shall 
trace out his generation, for he was 
cut off from the land of the living. 
For the transgression of my people 
he was smitten to death, and he der 
livered himself up to the wicked, but 
made his sepulchre with the rich (just) 
in his death, because he had done no 
violence, neither was any deceit found 
in his mouth." Is. 53: 6-9. 

Seven horns. Young princes or 



kings, who were born of the royal 
blood and heirs to their father's throne. 
Chap. 1 : 6. 

Eyes, Through whom the great 
head of the church viewed the actions 
of all men, saint and sinner. Chap. 1 : 
14 ; Zech. 3 : 9. 

The seven Spirits of God. Minis- 
tering spirits to the heirs of salvation, 
viz. in the seven churches of Asia. 
They were Ezekiel's chariots of sal- 
vation, who carried the Savior with 
them into every part of the world. 
The various titles applied to them 
here and elsewhere in this book are 
designed to point out the nature and 
great importance of their offices, 
and the duty which God requires of 
them. 

Sent forth. As missionaries, heralds 
of salvation, ambassadors to the hea- 
then. The whole world was their 
parish, and all the inhabitants of it 
their parishioners. They were com- 
manded by their Lord and Master to 
preach the gospel to every creature, 
young and old, rich and poor, black 
and white, bond and free, prince and 
peasant. Go, thou, (if called to the 
ministry,) and do likewise, and great 
shall be thy reward in heaven.* 



8. The passover was to be slain without the gates of the city. See Deut. 16 : 5. And 
so it was with the Lamb of God ; he was slain for our sins, and his blood poured out on 
Mount Calvary, a place outside of the city of Jerusalem. See John, 19 : 20. So that 
my dear friends, as Jesus, to sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the 
gate, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for here 
we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Heb. 13 : 12. 

* This has reference to the last clause of the tenth verse of the fourth chapter of Zech- 



REVELATION, 



83 



7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand 
of him that sat upon the throne. 

8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts 
and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, 
having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of 
odors, which are the prayers of saints. 



7 He took the book. The messen- 
ger of the sanctum sanctorum, who 
was waiting on the apostle and high 
priest of our profession, who was about 
to return out of the holy place with a 
revelation from heaven, viz. of the 
Old Testament prophecies which re^- 
mained at this time to be fulfilled ; and 
he sent his angel with it to his ser- 
vant John, in the Isle of Patmos. 

S The four leasts and the four and 



twenty elders. See chap. 4 : 4, 6. 

Harps. That is of salvation and 
praise. Faith is the instrument to 
tune the harp : without this it is im- 
possible to please God. 

Golden vials. Pure and precious 
hearts full of love to God and the 
whole human family. Prayer and 
praise ascended from these to the 
throne of God, like sweet incense from 
the altar, f 



ariah, and we have no authority from the scripture even to suppose that these seven spirits 
are either qualities or attributes of the Deity. There are three that bear record in heaven, 
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these are one. Our Savior promised his 
disciples that he would send them the Comforter, (the Holy Spirit,) " and when he is come 
he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment but did not promise 
to send seven spirits to reprove the world of sin, &c. Because they are called spirits, 
and are said to be of God, they are supposed to be seven spirits which belong to the Deity. 
But men are called spirits in 1 Pet. 3 : 19. See the reference at the last clause of the 6th verse. 
And believers are called children of God, but it is only by adoption and regeneration ; and 
so it is with these ministers, they are the seven spirits of God by adoption and regenera- 
tion, and not because in unity with the Godhead through eternity. 

* John now represents him as fulfilling his kingly, priestly, and prophetic office. The 
high priest under the law was the only person allowed to enter into the holiest of holies. 
Here he consulted with God to know his will concerning himself and the people ; and 
whatever mystery God made manifest to him, he was their prophet to reveal it. St. John, 
in the former verse, represents our Savior as being upon earth, and now he represents him 
as going into heaven to know the will of God, and to make it manifest to the people. 

t Their love, like a mighty overflowing stream, poured itself into a wider channel, and 
from thence it emptied itself into the boundless ocean of divine love. The members bless- 
ed their ministers, and the ministers blessed their Master, because it was through him they 
were enabled to bless the people. 



84 



NOTES ON THE 



9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy 
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof ; for thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out 
of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; 



9 A new song. Of redeeming grace 
and dying love, which none but the 
redeemed of the Lord can sing, and 
this when on their way to Zion with 
their faces thitherward. 

Thou art worthy. 

To receive honor and power divine, 
And blessings more than we can give 

Be, Lord, for ever thine. 
The whole creation join in one, ;j 

To bless the sacred name of Him 
Who sits upon the throne, 

And to adore the Lamb. Amen and Amen. 

Hast redeemed us to God by thy 



blood. Not with corruptible things, 
such as silver and gold, that perish, 
but with the precious blood of our 
Lord Jesus, as a lamb without spot or 
blemish. One drop of his blood is 
worth ten thousand worlds like this. 
Oceans of blood was shed under the 
old testament dispensation to take 
away sin, but could never accomplish 
it ; but the blood of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God, cleanseth from all sin. 
Poor sinner, without the application 
of this to your guilty soul you cannot 
be saved.* 



* To redeem, means to recover something which has been lost. The price our blessed 
Savior paid to ransom the world was his own precious blood, and without this salvation 
could never be accomplished. The law of God required blood for blood ; he who shed 
man's blood, by man should his blood be shed. Gen. 9 : 6. And blood, under the law,, 
was not permitted to be eaten, because said to be the life of the creature. Lev. 17 : 10, 11. 
As blood, therefore, is the life of both man and beast, God required that the blood of the 
Lord Jesus should be shed to save Adam and Eve, and all their posterity, from eternal 
death. As I before remarked, Christ laid down his life for us, that we might have life 
through him. Adam and Eve, by transgression, became self-murderers, and must have 
been lost for ever and ever had not the Lamb of God offered his life a ransom for theirs,, 
to save them from eternal death. Silver and gold, could never accomplish this. See 1 
Peter, 1 : 18, 19, and Heb. 9 : 22. 

The poet has touched on this in his beautiful poem on Jesus, Justice, and the Sinner-. ] 

Sinner. Nothing but mercy, mercy, Lord : my state 
Is miserable, poor and desperate ; 
I quite renounce myself, the world, and flee 
From Lord to Jesus, from myself to thee. 

Justice. Cease vain hopes ; my angry God has vow'd 
Abused mercy must have blood for blood ; 
Shall I yet strike the blow ? 

Jesus, Stay, Justice, hold, 



REVELATION. 



35 



10 And hast made 1 us unto our God kings and priests : 
and we shall reign on the earth. 

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels 
round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders ; 
and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand, and thousands of thousands ; 

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that 



Out of every kindred, and tongue, 
and people, and nation. He is the 
promised seed, in whom all the fami- 
lies of the earth shall be blessed, made 
rich, happy, joyful. He is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins, and not for ours 
only, but also for the sins of the whole 
world. 1 John, 2 : 2. 

For all thou hast a ransom paid, 

For all, for all a full atonement made. 

" Abraham," says Christ, " rejoiced 
to see my day, and he saw it, and 
was glad." 

10 Kings and priests. See chap. 
1 : 6. 

And we shall reign on the earth. In 
a few years more the kingdom shall 
be taken from the beast and given to 
the saints of the most high. The king- 
doms of this world shall then become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and his 



Christ, and he shall reign for ever and 
ever. Hallelujah ! Amen. 

11 The voice of many angels. Min- 
istering spirits in heaven and on earth 
They were innumerable, without 
number, and yet they all worshipped 
Christ as their God. Woe to the per- 
son who will not worship him ; it would 
be better for such an one if they had 
died before they saw the light of life. 

12 Saying with aloud voice. They 
were shouting aloud his praises as 
their King, Savior, Redeemer, Medi- 
ator. It was not the maidens alone, 
as in the days of David, who sang 
his praise. O no ! It was young and 
old, rich and poor, bond and free s 
prince and people, who celebrated the 
praises of Jehovah Jesus. 

To receive power. All power in 
heaven and on earth ; might, majes- 
ty, dominion, and power belong to 
him alone. 



My bowels yearn, my fainting blood grows cold 
To view the trembling wretch : methinks I spy 
My Father's image in the prisoner's eye, 
Justice. I cannot hold. 

Jesus. Then turn thythirsty blade 
Into my side ; there let the wound be made : 
Cheer up, dear soul, thy life's redeem'd by mine ; 
My soul shall smart, this heart shall bleed for thine. 

Sinner. O boundless grace ! O love beyond degree ! 
Th' offended dies to set the offender free ! Quarls's Poems, 



86 



NOTES ON THE 



was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. 

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the 
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, 
and glory, and power, he unto him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. 

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and 
twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth 
for ever and ever. 



Riches. Honor, power, wisdom, 
glory, happiness ; but the cattle upon 
a thousand hills are his ; the fish of 
the sea, the fowls of the air* the sun, 
moon, and stars, the animal and vege- 
table world, the mines and minerals ; 
the sea is his and he made it, and his 
hands have formed the dry land ; the 
earth is his and the fulness thereof ; 
the world and all that dwell in it. 
Let us therefore come into his pre- 
sence with thanksgiving and praise ; 
fall down and kneel and worship be- 
fore the Lord (Jesus) our maker, for 
he is a great God, and a great King, 
above all gods. Ps. 24 : 1 ; 95 : 6. 

13 Every creature in heaven. In the 
church above and the church below. 

And on the earth. All nations, kin- 
dreds, and tongues, and people, who 
shall be converted to Christianity. 

And under the earth. Those who 
have died in the Lord in all ages, the 
martyrs especially. 

In (on) the sea. Sailors, soldiers, 
captains of ships, who see the won- 
ders of the Lord in the great deep, 
and adore his name ; many of them 
loved, served, and obeyed Christ the 



creator and upholder of all things. 
Arians and Unitarians are, in their 
own conceit, wiser than the children of 
light. Yes, they know more about 
the character of Christ than all the 
angels in heaven, and all the patri- 
archs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and 
ministers who ever lived on earth, for 
they all worshipped Jesus ; but accord- 
ing to the opinion of these men, they 
must have all been idolators, who 
worshipped and served the creature, 
and not the Creator ; consequently not 
one of them can ever be admitted into 
heaven, for no idolator hath any in- 
heritance in the kingdom of God. 
Eph. 5:5. 

Blessing. As our Redeemer, Sa- 
vior, Advocate; 

Honor. As our Prophet, Priest, 
and King. 

Power. As our Creator, Preserver* 
Benefactor. 

Be unto him. King Jesus, the cre- 
ator and upholder of all worlds ; the 
true God and eternal life, in whom 
dwelleth all the fulness of the God- 
head bodily, (fully, entirely,) without 
any limitation. 



REVELATIOK. 87 



C HAP TER VI. 

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, 
and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the 
four beasts, saying, Come and see. 

2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse : and he that 
sat on him had a bow ; and a crown was given unto him : 
and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. 

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard 
the second beast say, Come and see. 



1 Opened one of the seals. Explain- 
ed one of the seven prophecies, that of 
Zechariah. 

The voice of thunder. Loud, so- 
lemn, alarming ; a warning voice, an 
indication of God's displeasure. See 
Joel, 2:1. 

2 A white horse. His white throne 
of holiness and justice, like that in 
Solomon's temple. Ps. 47 : 8 : chap. 
21 : 5. Messiah was first anointed 
king of Israel, and then he took his 
seat on his great white throne to ad- 
minister justice and judgment to all ; 
justice to the poor and the oppressed, 
and judgment to his enemies who 
would not submit to his authority nor 
have him to reign over them. The 
Rabbins assert that white horses de- 
note conquest, victory over enemies ; 
the Roman conquerors rode through 
the city in a chariot drawn by four 
white horses. See chap. 19: 11 ; Jud. 
5 : 10 ; 10 : 4 ; Zech. 6 : 2, 3. The 



Savior had now mounted his chariot 
of salvation, and was going to march 
through Jerusalem and all Judea, as 
a triumphant conqueror, subdue his 
enemies and save his people. The 
white horse may more particularly 
refer to his holy gospel ; with this he 
rode on triumphantly from conquering 
and to conquer, until he subdued all 
to himself.* 

He that sat on him. The King of 
kings and Lord of lords ; he who is 
head of his church, God over all, and 
blessed for ever, and who has all 
power in heaven and on earth. He 
formerly came meek and lowly, and 
riding on an ass into Jerusalem ; but 
now he appears as a king and a con- 
queror, and every eye shall see him, 
and they also which pierced him, and 
all kindreds of the earth shall wail be- 
cause of him. Even so, Amen. See 
Ps.9 : 4; 45 : 4, 5. 

A bow. 1. This may mean the 



* The Jews would not have the Lord Jesus to reign over them; hence he gave tbem 



ss 



NOTES ON THE 



4 And there went out another horse that was red : and 
power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from 
the earth, and that they should kill one another: and 
there was given unto him a great sword. 



two-edged sword of the Spirit, with 
which he slays his enemies. 2. It 
may mean the gospel bow, by which 
he has conquered the world. 3. It 
may mean the Roman army, the wea- 
pons of his indignation, with which 
he cut off the Jews as a nation. See 
Kemkie on Zech. 9 : 13. 

A crown. A dazzling, brilliant, 
sparkling crown of glory, which none 
hut the King of kings and Lord of 
lords can wear. 

He went forth conquering, and to 
conquer. He subdued the Jews by 
the sword of the Roman army, and 
the Gentiles by his own two-edged 
sword. He rode on triumphantly from 
conquering and to conquer, until he 
finally subdued all to himself, j 

4 A red horse. War and bloodshed. 
The sword of the enemy was now 
going to be bathed in the blood of the 
rebellious nation, (Ez. 21 : 14,) and 
the bloody and dreadful battle of Har- 
mageddon to be fought, in which the 
blood of the slain was to come up to 
the horses' bridles. See Lam. 2 : 2L 
The white horse was first sent out, 
and then all the others followed after. 



The gospel was first preached in all 
the world, for a witness to all nations, 
and then the end came of the Jewish 
dispensation. Zech. 6 : 2. 

He that sat on him. The head man, 
general of the army, who conducted 
the war. Sitting means ruling, con- 
ducting, managing. The rider had 
power to take peace from the earth ; 
that is, from the inhabitants of the 
earth, the land of Judea especially, 
that was called such. See Isaiah, 
30 : 9. 

Shall Mil one another. That is, with 
their own sword, in preference to that 
of their enemies whom they abhored. 
In the siege of Jerusalem a vast mul- 
titude put an end to their own lives to 
prevent being slain by the Roman 
army ; and not only so, but the city 
was divided into three different fac- 
tions, who fought desperately with 
each other, and killed thousands with 
their swords. 

A great sword. May mean a great 
army, or great power and authority, 
to wield the sword against the rebel- 
lious nation, and to spare neither young 
nor old, rich nor poor, bond nor free. 



over to blindness of mind, hardness of heart, pride, presumption, vain glory. These 
are directly opposite to the way of holiness, and, reader, if you despise the way of life, he 
will swear in his wrath that you shall never enter into his rest. And you that profess to 
be the followers of the Lamb, remember that you are to be holy as 'the Lord your God is 
holy, and that every person that nameth the name of Christ is to depart from iniquity. 



&EVELATION, 



^9 



5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the 
third beast say* Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a 
black horse ; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances 
in his hand. 

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts 
say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures 
of barley for a penny ; and see thou hurt not the oil and 
the wine. 

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the 
voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 

8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse : and his name 



5 A black horse. The black fa- 
mine which swept off thousands daily, 
and made the people black and shriv- 
elled up, like cinders. Lam. 4 : 8. 
It exceeded all the famines ever 
known, since or before, in the world. 
Women had to eat their own children 
to sustain nature. This had been pre- 
dicted by Moses two thousand years 
previous. See Deut. 28 : 57 ; Lam. 
4:10; Josephus, War, book 6 : 3, 4. 

A pair' of balances. Justice and 
judgment, the law and the gospel. 
She was weighed in both and found 
wanting. 

6 A measure. A quart measure ; 
and this sold for a penny, about eight 
pence sterling, at the rate of one pound 
sterling per bushel ; an enormous price 
indeed, especially as the penny was 
all the poor laborer got for his day's 
work. And the quart divided among 
six in family would leave but a very 
small portion to each. 

Three measures of barley for a pen- 
ny. This was two-thirds cheaper 
than wheat, but was not so profitable 



nor nourishing. Judea was famous 
for both wheat and barley, and a large 
quantity of each was stored up in 
Jerusalem a short time before the 
siege of it by Titus. 

Hurt not the oil and the wine. 
Touch not my anointed, and do my 
prophets no harm ; they are all sprin- 
kled with the blood of the paschal 
lamb, have made the Most High their 
refuge. When the famine swept off 
thousands daily in Jerusalem, the 
christians had bread enough and to 
spare ; God fed them in the wilder- 
ness of Judea three years and six 
months. See chap. 12 : 6. Hence, 
ye-nah shol to-rah, the oil and the 
wine of the law. Zohar on Exod. fol, 
51 : 3. See Ps. 91 : 4-10. 

8 A pale horse. The pestilence 
which followed the famine, and made 
all faces ghastly and pale as death. 
Josephus declares that more perished 
by the pestilence and famine than by 
the sword. 

His name that sal on him was 
Death. That is, the angel of death, 



90 



NOTES ON THE 



that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him. 
And power was given unto them over the fourth part of 
the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with 
death, and with the beasts of the earth. 



the devil himself, who was the au- 
thor of all their misery. He was let 
loose at this time to utterly destroy 
the nation. See chap. 20 : 2. 

And hell followed with him. The 
Roman army, the hell upon earth : 
who are elsewhere called the pit of 
perdition, the sons of the destroyer of 
the Gentiles, the most cruel, barbarous 
and inhuman set of men that ever liv- 
ed ; they spared neither men, women 
nor children, young nor old, rich nor 
poor. They even ripped open the 
women and strewed their very bowels 
about the street, and this in search of 
gold, which they heard had been 
swallowed by them. They also had 
fire, brimstone, and other combustible 
materials with them to burn uphouses 
and cities and fortifications : and this 
may be another reason why John calls 
them the pit of perdition. 

Power over the fourth part of the 



earth. They had at this time domi- 
nion over every part of the earth ; had 
conquered the whole world ; and it 
was predicted by Daniel that when 
the Homans had dominion over the 
earth that the Messiah should then be 
cut off, but not for his own sins, but for 
the sins of the people. This proves, 
beyond doubt, that Messiah has come, 
for the Roman empire has fallen, and 
can never be restored again. There- 
fore the Messiah has come, and Jesus 
of Nazareth is the very person beyond 
a shadow of doubt. The fourth part 
of the earth, however, may refer to 
their conquest over the whole land of 
Judea, which was to be laid waste 
and utterly destroyed by them. See 
Ez. 6 : 11. 

To Mil with sword. To destroy by 
war and bloodshed.* 

And with hunger. Famine, star- 
vation, f 



* This was a just retaliation, for they had shed the blood of the Lamb of God ; also the 
blood of his zealous apostles, and innocent followers. See chap. 16 : 6. 

t They refused to eat the bread of life, and they died literally for want of bread ; and 
the famine was so great that women had to eat their own children, as had been foretold by 
Moses nearly two thousand years previous. But this was not the only instance of their 
misery, fur others were obliged to eat their girdles, and the very shoes off their feet, and 
the leather that belonged to their shields they pulled off and gnawed ; and the very wisps 
of old hay became food for some. How exactly was the prophecy of Ezekiel fulfilled. 
Chap. 4 : 15, 16. Their own historian says that they staggered round the city like mad 
dogs, and reeled to and fro against the houses like drunken men. See Jer. 5 : 17. 



REVELATION. 



91 



9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under 
the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of 
God, and for the testimony which they held : 



And with death. The pestilence as 
well as the famine.* 

And with the beasts of the earth. 
Wild, lawless, and savage nations. 
Ez. 14: 21; Is. 56: 9.f 

9 Opened the fifth seal. Explain- 
ed the fifth prediction, that is, of Je- 
remiah. Chap. 2 : 34 ; 19 : 4. 

I saw under the altar. That is, the 
sacred spot where their innocent blood 
was shed ; some were slain in one 
place and some in another, but all in 
Jerusalem, and not in Rome, unless 
Paul, and this was at the instigation 
of the wicked and malicious Jews. 
Some were slain in the temple and in 



the city, and others at the very altar; 
some were stoned to death, and others 
sawn asunder outside the walls of it. 
But a prophet, as our Lord declares, 
could not perish out of Jerusalem. 

The souls of them that were slain. 
Ministers and martyrs of Jesus, who 
were offered up on the Jewish (not on 
the heathen) altar. Oh no ! the Gen- 
tiles have not this sin to answer for. 
Even the crucifixion of Christ cannot 
be charged on them. Pontius Pilate 
washed his hands out of his innocent 
blood, and the Jews exclaimed, " His 
blood be on us and on our children!" 
and this curse is on them to this day. 



* They closed their eyes on the light of the glorious gospel, and when expiring, fijced 
their eyes on their temple, and died with their mouths and eyes open ; many of them died 
with hunger, and others with grief, and some by the sword and by fire, and others by the 
pestilence, while some were their own murderers ; others were crucified on crosses outside 
of their own walls, and others were torn to pieces by the wild beasts spoken of in the 
next clause of this verse. This was the miserable and unhappy end of these wicked and 
persecuting Jews. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Sinner, 
take warning by this, your end may be miserable if you harden your heart and stiffen your 
neck against reproof. The Lord is a consuming fire, out of Christ, to all the workers of 
iniquity. 

t Our Lord compares the Roman army to a flock of eagles, and the Jewish nation to a 
dead carcass, which was now going to be devoured by them. See Matt. 24 *. 28. But 
here, and in Ezek. 32 : 4, they are compared to the most wild and terrible beasts of the 
forest, which had been collected together to tear in pieces and devour those miserable Jews. 
Titus gave orders to his army to encompass Jerusalem with a wall ; after which they died 
in thousands by the famine, and others swallowed down pieces of gold, and deserted to the 
Romans ; and these unmerciful and cruel beasts heard of it, and without any regard to 
humanity, or any fear of punishment from their commanders, in one night they murdered 
two thousand of these deserters, and ripped them open, and searched their stomachs for 
the gold they had swallowed down. See Josephus, War, book 5, 13 : 4. 



92 



NOTES ON THE 



10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 
O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge 
our blood on them that dwell on the earth 1 

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them ; 
and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a 
little season, until their fellow servants also, and their breth- 
ren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 



Hence, nash-me-thin da-Jca-too-le, the 
souls of them that were slain. Zohar 
on Exod. fol. 79 : 4. 

The Word of God. The gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

And for the testimony which they held. 
The doctrines which they believed 
and preached to the world — that is, 
the divinity of Christ, inspiration of 
the Holy Scriptures, repentance and 
remission of sins through his name, 
the immortality of the soul, the resur- 
rection of the body, and the life ever- 
lasting. 

10 Cried with a loud mice. For 
vengeance on their murderers and 
persecutors. The city had now be- 
come as famous for murder, robbery, 
and martyrdom, as it formerly was 
celebrated for piety. Hence, "How 
has the faithful city become a harlot ! 
It was full of judgment — righteous- 
ness lodged in it ; but now murder- 
ers." Is. 1 : 21. Our Savior declares 
that all the innocent blood shed upon 
the earth, from the foundation of the 
world to this time, should come on 



that generation, and that a prophet 
could not perish out of Jerusalem. 
See Matt. 23 : 35-37 ; 2 Kings, 21 : 
16 ; 24 : 4 ; Is. 59 : 7.* 

On them that dwell on the earth, 
On the proud, haughty, imperious 
nation, who has spiritual dominion 
over the earth, who professes to love 
God, but in works denies him. " They 
killed the Lord Jesus," says Paul, 
" and their own prophets, and have 
persecuted us, and they please not 
God, and are contrary to (more vile 
than) all men." 1 Thes. 1 : 15, 16. 

11 White robes. Pure, spotless 
garments. They had washed them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Should rest yet for a little season. 
That is, three years and six months ; 
the measure of their iniquity would 
then be full, and their final destruction 
accomplished ; and all the ministers 
and martyrs of Jesus who died in the 
faith be raised from the dead, and reign 
with Christ a thousand years in Pa- 
radise. Chap. 20 : 4. 

Should be fulfilled. In the general 



* If a man be guilty of murder, and the crime cannot be proved against him, and he is 
not willing to acknowledge it, yet the vengeance of God will pursue him, and the punish- 
ment that He will inflict on him inthis life will be more severe than the death of the gallows, 



REVELATION, 



93 



12 And 1 beheld when he had opened the sixth seal* 
and lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became 
black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood: 

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as 
a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of 
a mighty wind. 

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is roll- 



persecution raised against the church 
by the emperor Nero. Chap. 12:7. 
When these blessed and holy men 
shall have sealed their testimony with 
their own blood, then all the martyrs 
shall be raised to glory, immortality, 
and eternal life. The Jews will then 
have sealed their own final destruc- 
tion in this persecution, as they were 
the instigators of it. 

12 The sixth seal. The prophecy 
of Joel. See Joel, 2: 31. 

An earthquake. A shaking, trem- 
bling of the nations. The calamities 
at this time were so great, dark, dis- 
mal, dreadful, that Jews and Gentiles 
believed that the world was coming 



to an end. Our Lord's prediction, as 
well as that of Daniel, were now on 
the very eve of fulfilment. Matt. 24 : 
7, 22 ; Isaiah, 29 : 6 ; Hagai, 2:6,7; 
Joel, 3 : 16. 

The sun became black as sackcloth , 
Was turned into deep mourning, be- 
cause of the wickedness of the peo- 
ple.* 

And the moon became as blood. To 
indicate that the blood of the nation 
should now be shed because of the 
murder of her own prophets and King 
Messiah. 

13 The stars of heaven fell. The 
bright luminaries of the Jewish 
church. The prophets, priests, kings, 



* 1. This may mean the glory of the nation, namely, the temple. It became entirely 
eclipsed by fire. See verse 14, and 21 : 23. 

2. It may have reference to the glorious Sun of Righteousness, who was shining upon 
them until the thick cloud of the Roman army veiled his light from the minds of the Jews* 
Ezek. 32 : 7. 

3. St. John may allude to the time of the great darkness which took place prior to our 
Savior's crucifixion, which continued over the whole land from the sixth to the ninth hour. 
Matt. 27 : 45. At this time he might have perceived more clearly to what this darkness 
alluded, namely, that as the Jews had crucified the glorious Sun of Righteousness, and 
the natural sun refused to reflect its light, because of the guilt of their crime. So, in like 
manner, when the Roman soldiers should come to crucify them for the murder of their 
Messiah and prophets, the Sun of Righteousness would be as black with wrath as the land 
of Judea was with darkness when they had crucified the Lord of Glory, 



94 



NOTES ON THE 



ed together ; and every mountain and island were moved 
out of their places. 

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and 
the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, 



&c. These were extinguished for 
ever by the pestilence and famine, 
by war and bloodshed. Stars, among 
the Rabbins, mean prophets, priests, 
kings, and rulers. See Kimkie on 
Zech. 15 : 5 ; Is. 24 : 23 ; Lam. 1 : 
15, 19. 

14 The heaven departed. The 
Jewish heaven, the church ; it van- 
ished for ever. This title (heaven) is 
frequently applied in the Rabbinical 
writings to the Jewish nation, because 
once a holy, happy people. See Is. 1 : 
2 ; 13 : 13. The following clause il- 
lustrates this more fully.* 

Every mountain. The rich, great, 
noble, princely. Hence we-el a-ze-lai 
he-nai yis ra-el. On the nobles of the 
children of Israel. Exod. 24 : 11 ; 
Ez. 6:3; 36 : 6. Kimkie and Mich. 
6 : 1. 

Island. Or hill. Ez. 6:3. Learn- 
ed, popular, exalted, men. The Lord 



brought down the high and lofty looks 
of man low in the dust, and he alone 
was exalted in that day. Hence every 
valley (poor person) shall be filled up, 
(exalted,) and every mountain (noble 
man) and hill (rich, popular man) shall 
be brought low, (humbled, subdued,) 
and the rough places (barbarous na- 
tions) become smooth, (mild, harm- 
less,) and the crooked places (dishon- 
est, drunken men) become straight, 
(even, sober, upright, just,) and all 
flesh (Jew and Gentile) shall see the 
salvation of God. Matt. 3 : 5, 6. 
Hence, " every poor person shall be 
exalted, and every rich and proud per- 
son be humbled ; the dishonest become 
just, upright ; and the barbarians mild, 
gentle." Is. 40 : 4. The wolf shall 
then, (in Messiah's day,) lie down 
with the lamb, and a little child shall 
lead them. Is. 11 : 6. 

Were removed out of their places. 



* This is a title given to the Jewish nation, because God himself formerly resided 
among them. See Jer. 2 : 12. They are here represented as departing, or passing away ; 
the same as the sun, the moon, and the stars, at the day of judgment. Their sacrifices 
were all done away in Christ : their priests were destroyed, partly by themselves and partly 
by the Roman army. Lam. 4 : 16, and 5 : 12, &c. and chap. 9 : 21. The temple was 
burnt to ashes, and not one stone left upon another which was not thrown down, as our 
Lord predicted. Luke, 21 : 5, 6. And the golden vessels belonging to the temple, with 
the priest's garments, and the book of the law, were all carried to Rome by Titus ; and 
the city itself was burnt to ashes, and the very foundation of it ploughed up like a field, by 
Terentius Rufus, as had been foretold by the prophet Micah. See chap. 3 : 12. This officer 
was left in care of the city after Titus had left it for Rome. 



REVELATION. 



95 



and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid themselves 
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; 

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, 
and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, 
and from the wrath of the Lamb : 



Either destroyed or carried captives 
into Egypt. 

15 The kings of the earth. The 
rulers of the people. Ps. 2 : 2. This 
text evidently is an illustration of the 
metaphors in the 12th, 13th and 14th 
verses. See Is. 24 : 20, 21 ; 43 : 28 ; 
1 Cor. 2 : 8. 

The great men. The nobility, or 
mountains. 

The rich men. Men of wealth, 
learning, and high birth, called hills. 

Chief captains. Generals and of- 
ficers of the army as well as of the 
church. 

Mighty men. In learning, talent, 
and eloquence. 

And every hond-man. Poor man, 
servant, and laborer. 

Free-man. Who had now been 



made such by law, for all civil con- 
tracts among the Jews extended to the 
year of Jubilee, and no farther ; they 
were then null and void. See chap. 
18 : 13. 

Hid themselves. Surely if the 
mountains and hills had been literally 
removed the people could not hide 
themselves in them ; and it is a well 
known fact that there were more caves 
and hiding places in the mountains 
about Jerusalem than in any other 
part of the world. See Is. 2 : 19 ; 
29 : 4.* 

To the mountains and rocks. In 
and round about Jerusalem. 

Fall on us. Hide, protect, screen, 
us from the wrath of the Lamb, who 
has now become a lion to tear in pieces 
and utterly destroy. He is nowseat- 



* There were a vast many subterraneous caverns about Jerusalem, and round about the 
land of Judea. It was in one of these that Josephus and forty persons of eminence were 
found after the city of Jotapata was taken. And there were also twelve hundred women 
and children found concealed in them. After the city was taken, the Roman soldiers be- 
gan to search these cells for the Jews who had fled there for refuge, and they found a vast 
number of old and young men, whom they destroyed. And there were also found in these 
cells about two thousand persons, who were destroyed, partly by their own hands and part- 
ly by one another, but chiefly by famine. It was in one of these that Simon, the tyrant, 
and John, the commander of the Idumeans, were found. But falling short of provisions, 
and hoping to obtain pardon from Titus, they delivered themselves up into the hands of 
the Romans ; but Simon was afterwards destroyed, and John condemned to perpetual 
imprisonment. See Josephus, War, book, 6 9, 4, 4. Ezek. 33 : 27, and Judg. 6 : 2. 



NOTES ON THE 



17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who 
shall be able to stand ? 



ed on his great white throne of justice 
and judgment, to punish the wicked 
nation who declared that he should 
not reign over them.f 

17 For the great day of his wrath. 
These be the days of vengeance, says 
the Savior, in which all things writ- 
ten in the law and the prophets shall 
be fulfilled. Luke, 21 : 22. Again, 
"for then shall be great tribulation, 
such as was not since the beginning of 
the world to this time, no, nor ever 
shall be." Matt. 24 : 21. Here, then, 
we have an assurance that this was 
the great day of his wrath, the great- 
est day of the kind that ever came on 
the world, and that no such calamities 
shall ever come on the world again 
until the final destruction of all things. 
We assert, therefore, that if the se- 
ven plagues contained in this book re- 
main to be fulfilled, then there is a 
nation as great and as powerful as the 
Jews yet to be destroyed, and to be 
punished in precisely the same man- 
ner and with the very same plagues, 
viz. the seven plagues of Egypt. As 



no nation, therefore, but the Jews, 
have been threatened in the Bible with 
these plagues, and our Lord declares 
that no other nation shall be punished 
in the same way, we must conclude 
that these events have already trans- 
pired. There remains but one great 
event yet to be fulfilled, namely, the 
destruction of Gog and Magog. 

Is come. Not in anticipation, but 
in reality; it has now commenced. 
Daniel's seventy years since Messiah's 
day are at hand. See Zech. 1 : 12. 
The last twelve hundred and sixty 
days have began, and the calamities 
predicted by our Lord, and which are 
to precede this event, have now com- 
menced. Nation is rising against na- 
tion, and kingdom against kingdom ; 
wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes 
in divers places, pestilences and fa- 
mines, are all indications that the 
great day of his wrath is come ; and 
none shall be able to stand but those 
who have washed their robes and 
made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb. Amen. 



t The Lord their God formerly had delivered them from the hands of their enemies, 
but they crucified their Savior, and the only refuge they now have is the rocks and the 
mountains ; but these could not save them from his wrath, nor from the hands of their ene- 
mies — Jehovah could find out all their hiding-places. 



REVELATION. 



37 



CHAPTER VII. 



j^lND after these things I, saw four angels standing on the 
four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the 
earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on 
the sea, nor on any tree. 



1 And after these things. See note 
below.* 

Four angels. Heavenly messen- 
gers, guardian angels of the seven 
churches of Asia. 

Standing on (at) the four corners 
of the earth. They were placed as sen- 
tinels over the hostile armies, there to 
watch their movements, and prevent 
them from marching into Judea until 
the servants of God were sealed. 
Each of them had his particular sta- 
tion and duty assigned him. One was 
stationed in the east, the other in the 
west, one in the north, and the other 
in the south. 

Holding the four winds of the earth. 
Restraining the hostile armies in the 
four quarters of the earth. This is 
purely .Rabbinical ; hence, mal-che 
roo-ach, the angels of the winds. 



Targ. on 1 Kings, 19 : 11. Also, 
a-re-mar-ba roo che, the four winds 
of the earth. Zohar on Exod. fol. 
100 : 1. 

That the wind should not blow on 
the earth. That the hostile armies 
should not commence operations in 
Judea until the time appointed of God, 
Earth is a title frequently applied to 
the land of Palestine. Deut. 32 : 1 ; 
Is. 1 : 2; chap. 13 : 7. 

Nor on the sea. The lake of Gen- 
nesaret, where a vast multitude of the 
Jews had fled in ships, and were de- 
termined to defend themselves to the 
last against the Romans. A bloody bat- 
tle was finally fought here between the 
parties, in which about six thousand 
perished, and all the Jews were cut 
off who did not previously submit. 

2 Ascending from the east. That 



* In the first chapter he has given us a full proof of the divinity of Christ, and in the 
two next he has been describing the backslidings of the seven churches of Asia, with du- 
ties which our Lord had enjoined on them, in order that they might be restored to the 
favor of God. In the fourth chapter he describes the throne of God ; in the fifth, the book 
with the seven seals ; and in the sixth, the mysteries of the book after the seven seals 
were broken open; and now, in this chapter, he describes the merciful providence of God 
over his church, in preserving them from the power of their enemies, and from the severe 
calamities which were coming upon all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth. 

13 



9S 



NOTES ON THE 



2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, 
having the seal of the living God : and he cried with a 
loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt 
the earth and the sea, 

3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the 
trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their 
foreheads. 

4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed : 
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and {our thou- 
sand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 



is, from Jerusalem. This was also a 
heavenly messenger. 

Having the seal. The King's seal, 
authority, power to protect. The 
people were sealed with the Holy Spi- 
rit unto the day of redemption ; and 
this angel was sent to provide a place 
of security for them in the wilderness 
of Judea. The destroying angel was 
just going to pass through Egypt, and 
destroy all the first bora in it, both 
man and beast ; but all who were 
washed in the blood of Christ from 
their sins were exempt, were gracious- 
ly preserved by the power of God. 
Hence hoo tha?n chy-yimma weth, the 
seal of life and of death, power to save 
and power to destroy. Targum. One 
was sealed, set apart to live, the other 
to die. 

3 Sealed the servants of our God. 
Put the seal of salvation on them. 
This was their badge of security ; 
without this star in their crown they 
were all to be destroyed. About 
this time the gospel had been preach- 
ed in all the world. This was a wit- 
ness lo the church that the end of the 



Jewish dispensation was at hand. Col. 
1 : 2, 3 ; Matt. 24 : 14. And now, to 
carry out our Lord's views in refer- 
ence to his church, a messenger was 
sent from heaven to protect and pre- 
serve his people from the power of the 
destroyer of the Gentiles. 

In their foreheads. In their life and 
conduct. The image of God beamed 
forth in their very countenance. — 
The mark of the beast was either 
on the hand or in the forehead of the 
heathen ; but salvation by faith was 
imprinted on the heart of the believ- 
er, and then visible in his life. 

4 I heard the number. That is, they 
were innumerable, like the sands on 
the sea shore, a certain for an uncer- 
tain number. They were a vast army 
of spiritual warriors, who were now 
about returning from the conquest of 
their enemies, and to cross over Jor- 
dan into the promised land, to the hea- 
venly Jerusalem. 

One hundred and forty and four 
thousand. These were all converted 
by the twelve fishermen of Galilee, 
averaging twelve thousand each. And 



REVELATION. 99 

5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. 



probably there are now in heaven one 
hundred and forty-four millions, in- 
stead of this number, who were indi- 
rectly converted through them. One 
faithful man may be the instrument 
in the hands of God of the conversion 
of hundreds during his life ; and a 
faithful minister that of thousands. It 
is really astonishing what great good 
may result from the labors of one holy 
and zealous man. He is commanded 
to sow his seed in the morning, (of 
life,) and to withhold not his hand in 
the evening, (of life,) for he knoweth 
not which shall prosper. Infidels are 
more zealous to establish their cause 
in the world than some ministers to 
establish Christianity in it. A few 
years since I saw one of these cham- 
pions in infidelity hang on the gallows 
for murder, and two of his brethren 
were busy at the same moment dis- 
tributing infidel tracts round about 
among the spectators. How many 
will rise up in the day of eternity and 



call you blessed because the honored 
instrument of their conversion ; and 
how many will in that day reprobate 
infidels who have been the cause of 
their damnation. If there be a hotter 
place in hell than any other, the infi- 
del is sure to have it, and he richly 
merits it. 

5 The tribe of Judah. The spiritual 
offspring of Judah. ("PHi"! 1 ? ye hoo 
dah, he shall bless, praise, invoke, in 
the name of Jehovah. Hence 
ye hoo de, a Jew who worshipped the 
true God in opposition to ^ goe, a 
Gentile who worships dumb idols, 
which can neither see nor hear ; but 
he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, 
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, 
in heart and life, in the spirit and not 
in the letter. One is born after the 
flesh, the other after the spirit ; he is 
created anew in Christ Jesus, and has 
his fruit unto holiness, and the end 
everlasting life.* 

This verse seems to refer to Psalms 



* Judah was designed of old to represent this spiritual tribe. It is said in Gen. 49 : 9, 
that " Judah is a lion's whelp ; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up : he stooped down, 
he couched as a lion, and as an old lion ; who shall rouse him up ?" The Jewish high 
priest was compared to a lion in the scripture ; and all those who were official men under 
him, to whelps. Isa. 35 : 9 ; Ezek. 22 : 25 ; Ps. 91 *. 13 ; Zeph. 3 : 3. Our Savior is said 
to be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, (see chap. 5 : 5,) because he is our great high priest J 
and all those whom he has called to officiate under him, are his whelps, (disciples.) But 
Judah going up, as is expressed above, may have reference to his gradually ascending, 
step by step, till at length he arrived to the throne ; and his couching as a lion, may refer 
to his zeal for the salvation of sinners. But to make this more plain, it is said, " the scep- 
tre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; 
and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." And how literally was this fulfilled 
in the person of Christ ! At one time the chief priests and pharisees held a council to- 
gether, and said, What do we ? for this man doeth many miracles ; if we let him thus alone 



100 



NOTES OX THE 



Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 



68 : 17. The chariots of God are 
twenty thousand, even thousands of 
ministers ; the Lord is among them in 
his holy tabernacle, as in Sinai. The 
Lord gave the word, (the gospel,) and 
great was the host (of ministers) who 
published it, or proclaimed it, to the 
world. Verse 11. is ren- 

dered by some " the female publishers 
of it." This would of course exclude 
all the apostles from either part or lot 
in the ministry ; but they were the 
missionaries who carried the gospel 
into all the world, and preached it to 
Jews and Gentiles. The commission 
was certainly given to them, but un- 
der their direction some holy and good 
women did preach Christ and him cru- 
cified, as had been predicted by the 
prophet Joel. Chap. 2:28. See Acts, 
21 : 19. The participle is masculine 
with a feminine termination, which is 
frequently the case in the Hebrew 
language. In the next verse it is ap- 
plied to the heavenly host, the angels 



of God ; and surely they are not fe- 
males. Talent in either male or fe- 
male should not be buried, but im- 
proved to the glory of God ; there is 
plenty of work in the Lord's vine- 
yard for both male and female. The 
tribe of Judah spiritually means min- 
isters of the gospel of Jewish extrac- 
tion : they were the sanctuary of the 
Most High, the progenitors of salva- 
tion to a perishing world of sinners. 
See Ps. 114 : 2. 

It is very probable that Judah, 
Reuben and Gad were northern con- 
verts, and Simeon, Levi and Issachar 
southern converts ; Asher, Nephthalim 
and Manasseh western converts ; Jo- 
seph, Zebulon and Benjamin eastern 
and south-eastern converts. See Ez. 
48 : 31-34. The Jewish tribes were 
settled in Judea in the following 
places : Reuben in the southern part 
of Perea, Ashur in Libanus, upper 
Galilee, Nephthalim in the northern 
part of Gennesareth, Manasseh in Dor 



all men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and 
nation. John, 11 : 47, 48. At this time they had spoken, the truth, for the crown had 
fallen from their head. Shiloh had now come, and their power to read and expound the 
holy scriptures was taken from them, and the crown put on the head of Him whose right 
it was to reign ; he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes. See Matt. 7 : 
29. At one time the multitudes that followed him for instruction were so numerous that 
he was obliged to get a ship and to row a short distance from the shore. Matt. 13 : 2. 
And at another time, about five thousand people, besides women and children, followed 
him into the wilderness. Matr. 14 : 21. And again it is said that the people came to 
him in the wilderness from every quarters. See Mark, 1 : 45. So that a Jew who reads 
this prophecy without prejudice must easily perceive that Jesus is the Christ, for seventy 
years after his birth the twelve tribes were destroyed, as well as the priests and prophets, 
and they never have been found as yet. 



REVELATION". 101 

6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 



and Ceesarea, Simeon in the south- 
west of Judea, lssachar in the valley 
of Esdraelon, Z abulon in the west part 
of Gennesareth, Gad in Decapolis, 
Benjamin in Jericho, Dan in Joppa, 
and Ephraim in Samaria. 

These tribes were all the descend- 
ants of the twelve patriarchs of the 
Jewish church, and the christian tribes 
were the spiritual offspring of the 
twelve apostles, or the fathers of the 
christian church. The woman is re- 
presented as being crowned with these 
heavenly luminaries. Chap. 12 : 1. 
And it is not improbable that our Lord 
chose several of his apostles from each 
of the twelve Jewish tribes, so that the 
literal became finally blended with 
the spiritual, and the shadow swallow- 
ed up in the substance. 

Reuben was the first bora among 
the Jewish tribes, and here it seems 
to refer to all the first-born spiritually, 
or all the early and first converts to 
Christianity, who were united to the 



church immediately after the day of 
Pentecost. See chap. 14 : 4. 

Gad, strong, mighty, valiant for the 
truth ; spiritual champions who were 
willing to die for the name of Jesus. 
They conquered by their blood, and 
not by their sword ; one could chase 
a thousand, and two put ten thou- 
sand to flight. The blood of the mar- 
tyrs was the seed of the church, and 
these men were willing to seal their 
testimony with their own blood. See 
1 Chron. 12 : 8 * 

6 Asher. The blessed happy, rich 
tribe. They were rich in faith, and 
heirs of the kingdom ; but it may be 
understood literally. This tribe may 
refer to the wealthy throughout the 
general church. A vast many wealthy 
men embraced Christianity even at this 
early period of the church. See Ps. 
45: 12; Is. 66 : 20. f 

Nephthalim. The wrestling Jacobs 
and the prevailing Israelites. They 
prevailed by faith and prayer with the 



• According to the law of Moses, the first born son had a right to a double portion of 
all his father possessed. See Deut. 21 : 17. And so it will be with the first born spiritu- 
ally : if faithful unto death, they shall have a double degree of honor and glory in heaven. 

t There was no tribe that received a larger and a better portion in the promised land 
than this tribe. And so it will be with the spiritual tribe of Asher ; there will be no re- 
ward to exceed theirs in the spiritual inheritance, namely, heaven. And if this is the case, 
who would be so unwise as to seek after no higher attainments in this life than justification 
or pardon of sins, when we can be more holy here and more happy and glorious here- 
after. 



102 



NOTES ON THE 



7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. 
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the 
tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 



angel of the everlasting covenant ; 
they seized his garment and would 
not let him go until he blest them, and 
others also, with a sense of pardon. It 
means to wrestle, struggle, agonise, 
with God.* 

Manasseh. All those who had given 
up houses and lands, parents and chil- 
dren, freedom, friends, and fame ; the 
riches, honors, and pleasures of the 
world, for Christ's sake and the gos- 
pel, were of this tribe ; and thousands 
had done this in the days of the apos- 
tles. It means to forget, give up, 
abandon, as the world, &c. &c. The 
conversion of one sinner is worth all 
the wealth of the universe ; and he 
who cannot freely give up all for 
Christ's sake cannot be his disciple. 
See Acts, 2 : 45 ; Ps. 45 : lO.f 



7 Simeon. Mighty in faith and 
prayer, praying men and women, who 
converted thousands by their zeal, 
faith and prayers. £ 

Levi. Means to unite, blend, join 
together as two distinct things, and 
seems to refer particularly to Gentile 
ministers, a vast number of which 
were called into the office of the min- 
istry at this time to assist the apostles 
in the great work of the conversion 
of the world. See Isaiah, 66 : 21 ; 
Ez. 44 : 10, 11. It may here refer 
to all the official characters in the 
church such as exhorters, teachers, 
stewards, leaders, deacons, &c. &c. 
See 1 Chron. 24 : 28.§ 

Issachar. The poor and needy, 
servants, slaves, and laboring men, 
who earned their living by the sweat 



* From what is said of Nephthalim, that he is a hind let loose, who giveth goodly 
words, I am inclined to think St. John had reference to Gentile believers, who were just 
let loose from the bondage of sin and Satan into the glorious liberty of the children of 
God, and whose mouths were now opened to speak forth the praises of the most high God. 

t Manasseh is a name Joseph gave to his first born son, (Gen. 41 : 51 5 ) and it may be 
interpreted forgetfulness, because God, in the gift of this son, made Joseph to forget all his 
former misfortunes. The tribe of Manasseh must mean those whose present happiness is 
so great as to make them forget their former persecution, disgrace, and affliction. 

X Simeon may be interpreted the answer of prayer, because the Lord looked on Leah's 
affliction, when he had seen that she was less loved than Rachel, i. e. by Jacob, and he 
gave her this son in answer to prayer. Gen. 29 : 33. All those who were converted in 
answer to the faithful fervent prayers of the righteous belonged to the spiritual tribe of 
Simeon. 

§ Levi may be interpreted, united or joined together, because God, in the gift of this 
son, had united the husband and wife together ia matrimonial love. Genesis, 29 : 



REVELATION, 



103 



8 Of the tribe of Zabulon icere sealed twelve thousand. 



of their brow. They were not forgot- 
ten by Christ. A vast many of the 
poor embraced the gospel because it 
proved to be the power of God unto 
the salvation of their souls. Issachar 
is said to be like a strong ass, laboring 
under two burdens, poverty and per- 
secution. Gen. 49 : 13. * 

8 Zabulon. Means a tabernacle, 
temporary residence ; also a house, 
habitation, probably for ministers 
and members, rich and poor, bond 
and free. The truly benevolent, 
who fed the hungry, clothed the na- 
ked, visited the sick, was the husband 
of the widow and the father of the 
fatherless. The religion of Jesus is 
the most pure and lovely system in the 



world ; its very essence is love and 
pure benevolence. The moment a 
man's heart is open to receive the Sa- 
vior by faith, his house will be open 
to entertain his people. A miser is 
neither fit to live nor die. Be not for- 
getful, says St. Paul, to entertain 
strangers, for thereby some have en- 
tertained angels unawares. Heb. 
13 : 2. As Zabulon is represented as 
dwelling at the sea, and sucking the 
abundance of treasure hid in the sand 5 
it may allude to christian converts 
along the coast of the Mediterranean 
sea ; or to sailors, soldiers and captains, 
a vast multitude of which embraced 
Christianity. See chap. 5 : 13. f 
Joseph. He shall add, God did add, 



34. It was from this person that the Levites descended, who were appointed to do the 
service of the tabernacle, and to offer whole burnt sacrifices upon the altar ; and not only 
this, but they were to teach Jacob his judgments, and Israel his law, i. e. at particular 
times, and on particular occasions. See Deut. 3 : 10. It was from Levi, the son of Leah, 
that Moses and Aaron descended. Exod. 6 : 20. And it is not improbable that the 
Levites derived their name from the nature of their office, for they were afterwards united 
or joined together, with the priests in the office of the ministry. 

* Issachar is said to be a strong ass, couching down between two burdens : And he saw 
that rest was good, and the land that it waspleasant ; and bowed his shoulder to bear, 
and became a servant unto tribute. See Gen. 49 : 14, 15. He is compared to an ass 
heavy loaded with two sacks, one on the right side and the other on the left. St. John, by 
the spiritual tribe of Issachar, no doubt means all those who had to labor for the support of 
a large family, as well as for that of the gospel. It was absolutely necessary that some 
should sell all their possessions for sake of the gospel, (Acts, 4 : 36, 37,) and that some of 
the apostles should leave their wives and families for a season, for the sake of the gospel. 
Luke, 14 : 26. And on the other hand, it was necessary others in the church should labor 
for their support, as well as for their own family, and for the spread of the gospel. See 
Acts, 6 : 1 ; 1 Cor. 9 : 13, 14 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 8. 

t Zabulon is interpreted to signify dwelling, because Leah believed that in the gift of this 
son Jacob would dwell with her for life; and others interpret it a pledge of benevolence. 
Zabulon is represented as sending out ships, and Issachar as remaining in his tents, be- 
cause he had to be at home to provide for his family. See Deut. 33 : 18 ; J udges, 5:14. 



104 KOTES ON THE 

Of the tribe of Joseph tvere sealed twelve thousand. Of 
tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. 



riches and honor to him who was se- 
parated (by persecution) from his 
brethren. God exalted Joseph from 
a slave to a sovereign, a prisoner to a 
prince, and from poverty and degra- 
dation to honor and glory. This may 
therefore refer to rulers and governors 
who had embraced the religion of Je- 
sus, or to believers who were separa- 
ted from their brethren by persecu- 
tion. See chap. 21 : 24 ; Is. 60 : 11. 

Benjamin. The son of my old age. 
The young and tender lambs of the 
flock, who should be fed with milk, 
and not with strong meat ; to be led, 
and not drove by arbitrary men or 
means. It is a very difficult matter 
to get converts into the church, but a 
very easy matter to drive them out of 
it. It would be better (says our Lord) 
that a mill-stone were hanged about 
your neck, and you drowned in the 
midst of the sea, than to offend one of 
these little ones that believeth in me. 
Matt. 18: 6; Is. 40 : 11.* 

Finally, another view may be taken 
of the spiritual tribes. They may re- 



fer to the different orders and classes 
in the christian church. 

Judah and Levi may mean senior 
and junior preachers, deacons and el- 
ders ; both were to teach Jacob his 
judgments and Israel his law. DeuU 
33:10; 1 Chron. 15 : 2 ; 24 : 28. 

Reuben and Benjamin, young and 
old believers. 

Asrier and Issachar, the rich and 
poor members. 

Manasseh and Nephthalim, mission- 
aries and exhorters, &c. The former 
is represented as itenerating, and giv- 
ing up all for the gospel ; the latter is 
said to produce goodly words or ex^ 
hortations, and also to be seated in a 
portion of the law. 

Joseph may refer to rulers, gover- 
nors and overseers of the church ; the 
one was a ruler literally, the other a 
ruler spiritually. 

Zabulon may mean the deacons, 
stewards and leaders of the church, 
who attended to the wants of the poor 
and support of the gospel. 

And Gad, the noble army of mar- 



t Benjamin is called Ben-oni, or the son of my sorrow, by Rachel, because she had 
suffered great, pain in bringing this child into the world. The circumstances that accom- 
panied his birth are very remarkable. Deep affliction and death were what gave birth to 
Benjamin. This was the only son of the whole who had two names. It is very probable 
St. John, by the spiritual tribe of Benjamin, meant all those who were converted to Chris- 
tianity through the patience and sufferings of the martyrs of Christ; and this at a period 
when he was very far advanced in years. Doctor Gillie says, the christians gained many 
proselytes by their patience and constancy in their sufferings. They died rejoicing, and 
triumphed in the midst of the greatest tortures. This continuing for some ages, convinced 
their enemies that they were supported by Divine power. 



REVELATION, 



105 



9 After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which, 
no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before 
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
hands ; 

10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our 
God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 



tyrs who sealed their testimony with 
their own blood, 

Simeon, praying men and women, 
who had the gifts of prophecy, heal- 
ing, and of miracles. 

9 A great multitude. An innume- 
rable army of spiritual soldiers, who 
were subduing the enemy in every 
country, and adding new laurels to 
their crowns, Immediately after tho 
downfall of Babylon Christianity 
spread with a rapidity like lightning 
.throughout the world. Tertullian, 
when speaking of the progress of 
-Christianity between the first and se- 
cond centuries, says that " Parthians, 
Medes, Elamites, the inhabitants of 
Mesopotamia, Armenia, Phrygia, 
Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, and Pam- 
phylia, and those who dwelt in Egypt, 
and the region of Africa. Also Jews, 
strangers, and citizens of Rome, with 
many of the Getuli, and the borders 
of the Moors, and to the utmost 
bounds of Spain, And also divers 
nations in Gaul, and places of Bri- 
tain inaccessible to the Roman ar- 
mies, have yielded subjection to 



Christ. Also the Sarmatians, the 
Dacians, the Germans, and the Scy- 
thians, with many obscure countries 
and provinces, islands and places un- 
known to us, which, says he, I can- 
not reckon up ; in all which Christ 
reigns, becaitse he is now come." See 
his writings against the Jews, chap. 
7, page 98. 

And palms in their hands. That is 
of victory, through the blood of the 
Lamb. This is the victory, St. John 
observes, that overcometh the world, 
even our faith-, The palm branches 
are designed to point out their deliv- 
erance from bondage and captivity 
among both Jews and Gentiles. Neh. 
8 : 5. They were now returning from 
captivity in spiritual Babylon, and had 
the palms of victory in their hands. 

10 Salvation to our God. To 
Christ, the author and finisher of it; 
he is the christian's God, not that of 
the Jews nor of the Gentiles, whodis= 
believe in his divinity and his doc- 
trines. He will tear all such in pieces^ 
and a great ransom cannot deliver 
them.* 



* And if they said Salvation to Christ, as their God, ought not we to say, Amen, bless- 
ing and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and mighty be unt© 
Christ, who is our God also, and unto the Lamb, for ever, 

14 



106 



NOTES ON THE 



11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, 
and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before 
the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 

12 Saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and 
thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto 
our God for ever and ever. Amen. 

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, 
What are these which are arrayed in white robes 1 and 
whence came they ? 

1A And I said unto him, Sir, thou k no west. And he 



11 All the angels. In heaven and 
on earth. 

The elders. The ancient and ven- 
erable fathers of the church, who have 
been with Jesus from the beginning, 
and were eye witnesses of his minis- 
try, miracles, death, sufferings, resur- 
rection, and ascension to glory. 

And the four beasts- Generals of 
his army, spiritual warriors, who had 
brought the whole world into subjec- 
tion to Christianity — probably Paul, 
Apollos, Cephas, and John, 

Fell before the throne. Fell pros- 
trate at his feet, to worship, reverence, 
fear, obey, and serve him as the king 
immortal, invisible, the only wise God. 

And ivor shipped God. Our Savior, 
the true God and eternal life, in whom 
dwelleth all the fullness of the God- 
head bodily. If Christ be not God, 
then we assert there can be no God in 
lieaven nor on earth ; for he declared 
himself to be God, was worshipped as 
such by all the angels in heaven, and 
all the pious on earth, by patriarchs, 
prophets, priests, kings, apostles, 
and by all the noble army of martyrs, 



and this in the midst of the very flames. 
His miracles demonstrated his divini- 
ty : he healed the sick, cleansed the 
lepers, and raised the dead to life ; 
had all power in heaven and on earth; 
laid down his life and restored it again, 
and no man took it from him. He is 
the First and the Last, the creator and 
upholder of all things, the Savior, Re- 
deemer, Mediator, and final Judge of 
all men, who will reward and punish 
every man according to the deeds done 
in the body, whether they be good or 
bad. 

13 One of the elders ansipered. In- 
quired, asked. 

Whence came they ? From what 
country, kindred, people, nation- 
Why, sir, you know all about them. 

14 They came out of great tribula- 
tion. - The deep waters of affliction, 
persecution, poverty, distress. They 
were in perils by sea and by land, by 
day and by night, in the city and the 
wilderness, among false brethren, 
Jews and Gentiles, in weariness and 
painfulness, in hunger and thirst, in 
watchings and fastings, in cold and 



REVELATION. 



107 



said to me, These are they which came out of great tri- 
bulation, and have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. 

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and 
serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth 
on the throne shall dwell anion £ them. 

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 



nakedness, in stripes and imprison- 
ments ; but none of these things have 
moved them from the hope of the gos- 
pel. Will christians, then, we ask, 
of the present generation, murmur 
who live at ease in Zion, who have 
none of these evils to contend with ? 
Oh ye of little faith, or rather of no 
faith, 

Who live on flowery beds of ease, 

While others fought to win the prize, 
And sailed through bloody seas. 

Wake up, wake up to a sense of your 
danger as well as duty.* 

Have washed their robes. Their 
sins, all away in the blood of the Lamb. 
" Being made free from sin, they have 
their fruit unto holiness, and the end 
will be everlasting life." 

15 And serve him day and night 
in his temple. Morning, noon, and 
evening they praise him in his spiritual 
temple ; they pray without ceasing, 
and in every thing give thanks ; are 



diligent in business, fervent in spirit, 
always serving the Lord ; they pray 
both in public and in private, in their 
family, closet, and church. He that 
lives without family prayer and secret 
prayer lives without God and without 
Christ in the world. 

Shall dwell among them. Until time 
shall be no more. Matt. 28 : 20. 
When the old earthly tabernacle is 
taken down he shall then take up his 
final residence in the new and heaven- 
ly Jerusalem. 2 Cor. 6 : 16. 

16 They shall hunger no more. 
Their spiritual Joseph shall feed them. 
He has enough for all, enough for 
each, and enough for evermore. He 
will preserve soul and body unto ever- 
lasting life. 

Thirst any more. For he shall 
lead them unto fountains of living wa- 
ter, and all tears shall be wiped away 
from their eyes. 

Nor the sun smite them. For they 
shall be pillars in his church, to go no 



* But perhaps you are ready to ask, Were not these in eternity at this time 1 This is 
impossible, unless we suppose day and night to exist there ; and this cannot be, for day and 
night belong to time, and not to eternity, where there is no change. And aga n, we read 
in the second verse that the angel who had the seal of the living God, came to earth to 



10S 



NOTES ON THE 



17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains 
of waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes. 



more out for ever. The persecution 
under Nero exposed them to severe 
sufferings by night and by day, but 
their deliverance was at hand. Matt. 
24 : 9. 

17 Shall lead them to living foun- 
tains. To living, zealous, evangeli- 
cal ministers, whose hearts are like 
the pure and vivid stream, filled with 
love to God and the whole human fa- 
mily ; their eye is single, and their 
whole body is full of light.* 

And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes. Shall abundantly 
compensate them for all their suffer- 
ing. They shall be so happy, pros- 



perous, great, glorious, that like Ma- 
nassah, they shall forget all their for- 
mer afflictions and persecutions ; they 
shall have joy without grief, ease 
without pain, light without darkness, 
day without night, heaven without 
any interruption of their happiness. 
The ransomed of the Lord shall now 
return to Zion with songs, (of deliver- 
ance,) and everlasting joy shall be on 
their heads ; they shall obtain joy and 
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
flee away. Is. 51 : 11. This day is 
this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 
Amen. 



seal these servants of the Lord in their foreheads. So that, if they were in heaven, they 
were sealed already, and there would have been no occasion for this angel to come to earth 
to seal them. See 2 Esdras, in the Apocrypha, 2 : 38-48. 

* That is, the living ministers of the living God ; they are compared to clear fountains 
of water, because of their depth of wisdom, sound faith and doctrine, and overflowing 
sense of the love of God. See Isa. 12 : 3. A corrupt minister, who is dry in his preach- 
ing, and shallow in wisdom, is not a fountain fitjbr the Shepherd of Israel to lead his 
flock to. 



REVELATION, 



109 



CHAPTER VIII. 

AND when he had opened the seventh seal, there was 
silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God ; 
and to them were given seven trumpets. 



1 The seventh seal. This is the last 
seal which is to be opened, and it will 
fill up the calendar of the prophe- 
cies which remained as yet to be 
fulfilled, viz. that of Daniel. This, 
recollect, is only the opening of the 
seals, but it was some time after this 
before the fulfilment of them. ; 

There was silence in heaven. A 
solemn pause in the church and in the 
ministry. The abomination of desola- 
tion spoken of by Daniel the prophet 
was now on its way, (viz. when this 
was fulfilled,) to Judea, and it was 
high time that both ministers and 
members should think of their own 
safety, and a place of security from 
the Roman army, who made no dis- 
tinction between Jews and christians. 
Perhaps the church might at this time 
be in solemn counsel together at Je- 



rusalem, to take into consideration our 
Lord's prediction, (Matt. 24 : 7, 8, 9, 
16, 17, 18,) the fulfilment of which 
was at hand, and it was necessary the 
church should now provide for her 
own security during the war. See 
Is. 26 : 20, 21.* 

Half an hour. A short period, a 
week, a month. 

2 Seven angels. From heaven, 
sent forth to minister to the heirs of 
salvation. These were Isaiah, Je- 
remiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Ze- 
chariah, and Micah. They were sent 
to earth to announce to the churches 
the fulfilment of each and all of their 
prophecies. This announcement may 
have been the cause of the solemn si- 
lence in the churches. They were 
notified that the time had now come 
for their departure into the wilderness 
t • 



* 1. The silence spoken of may have reference to the sudden surprise which had come 
on the church when they heard of the approach of the Roman army into the holy land. 2, 
It may mean that they should be deprived of religious instruction and christian communion 
for a short time. 3. It may have reference to the deep solemnity that rested upon all minds 
when they had heard of the utter destruction of Jerusalem. St. John had only seen these 
things in the vision at different times, but the plagues were not poured out for two or three 
years after this, The seven angels had first to sound with their trumpets, and the locusts to 



110 



NOTES ON THE 



3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, hav- 
ing a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much 
incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all 
saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 



of Judea, from the face of the serpent 
and the calamities which were coming 
on the world. 

Seven trumpets. Gospel trumpets, 
gospel truths, to sound the alarm that 
death and destruction were at hand, 
and that all the prophecies were now 
about to be fulfilled. Joel, 2 : 1. 
Twenty-one trumpets were blown 
daily in the temple to call the people 
to devotion, morning, noon, and even- 
ing. Another priest, when the sun 
had set on the last day of the week, 
went round the city and blew a trum- 
pet to let the people know that the sun 
had set, and the Sabbath had now 
commenced, and that all labor must 
cease. These angels or ministers 
sounded the gospel trumpet to let the 
people know that the glorious Sun of 
Righteousness had now set to rise no 
more on the Jewish nation, and that 
the church must prepare to depart in- 
to some place of security, and that 
spiritual labor in the gospel must 
cease until the war was over, and God 
shall again collect his beloved people 
from the four quarters of the earth in- 



to which they have been scattered by 
the R-oman army. See Matt. 24 : 31. 

3 Another angel. That is, a dif- 
ferent one — one of the angels from 
heaven, who had power over fire. 
See verse 5. The Rabbins say the 
angel sal-dal-phon is appointed of God 
to offer up the prayers of the saints. 
Zohar on Gens. fol. 97 : 2. 

The altar. Christ, the golden altar. 
This altar the Jews, who served the 
sanctuary, had no right to eat off. It 
is on this we offer up to God our souls, 
bodies, and spirits, as a living sacri- 
fice, holy, acceptable, and well pleas- 
ing in his sight, which is our reasona- 
ble service. The Rabbins say there 
will be no need of sacrifices when 
Messiah comes. 

Having a golden censer. nfrrito 
a fire pan to receive coals from the 
altar. Here it means a pure heart, 
that received the fire of divine love 
from Christ, our golden altar.* 

Much incense. The love of God 
filling the whole soul. It was from 
this that the sweet perfumes of prayer 
and praise ascended up as a memorial 



be let loose, and the two witnesses to prophecy a thousand two hundred and threescore 
days, clothed in sackcloth ; also the woman had to fly into the wilderness with eagles' 
wings, from the face of the serpent. . 

* A holy heart — tlm is the golden cup which made the incense send up a sweet per- 
fume before God. There was a golden censer in the holiest of holies, in which the high 
priest offered the iocenje. See Heb. 9 : 4. 



REVELATIOX. 



Ill 



4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the 
prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the 
angel's hand. 

5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire 



before God. The angel is here re- 
presented as presenting their prayers 
before God, as did the priest the in- 
cense in the temple. All were to be 
presented through Christ, the golden 
altar, which is before the throne of 
glory.* 

4 The smoke of the incense. The 
glory of God filled the house and the 
hearts of all present. See chap. 15 : 8. 

With the prayers of the saints. The 
faithful, fervent, effectual prayers of 
the righteous avail much ; God hears 
and answers them. The angel pre- 
sented them to God through Christ, 
our altar, for an immediate answer. 
They were in doubt, danger, and dif- 
ficulty, and now is the awful moment 
to exercise faith and prayer.f "We 
may have elegant churches, rich con- 
gregations, a learned and eloquent 
ministry, delightful singing and music, 
fine prayers and preaching, but what 
will all these benefit us in the hour of 
danger and of death ? All our preach- 



ing, praying, and alms-giving will be 
of no benefit to us unless they are of 
faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is 
sin. We have been praying for years, 
"From envy, . malice, hatred, and re- 
venge, and all uncharitableness and 
unrighteousness of men, good Lord 
deliver us ;" but has he delivered us 1 
Are we not getting worse and worse, 
instead of better and better 1 There 
can be no doubt of it. Have we not 
so far departed from God as to become 
rank papists instead of good old pro- 
testants ? Are we not full of envy 
and malice ? Our prayer is not heard 
because not of faith, and therefore 
must be sinful. We approach God 
with our lips while our heart is far 
from him. Instead of loving each other 
we are hating and devouring each 
other. 

5 Fire from the altar. The spirit- 
ual and holy fire of divine love, which 
enlivens, animates, and gives life, de- 
votion, and action to all our exercises. 



* That is, much faith and love. Our Savior had given him a double portion of this 
grace, in order to offer it iu behalf of himself and others, and when these were united 
together they sent up a sweet perfume, from which the Almighty smelt a sweet savor. 

t Every sacrifice we offer must be on this altar, or else we shall never receive an answer 
to our prayer ; and if we offer one either lame, halt, blind, leprous, or in any degree filthy 
or sinful, we pollute the altar, and leave ourselves exposed to the displeasure of God ; for 
if we regard iniquity in our heart He will not bear our prayer. And again, the sacrifice 
of the wicked is an abomination in the sight of God ; so that a man who lives in wilful 



112 



NOTES ON THE 



of the altar, and cast it into the earth : and there were 
voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 



Without this we are dead, dull, for- 
mal, lifeless, a burden to ourselves 
and all that hear us.* The preacher 
who converts the most souls will final- 
ly have the greatest reward in heaven, 
and he who converts none, will have 
no reward. 

And cast it into the earth. That is, 
the church, the salt of the earth. The 
priest scattered the sparks of fire and 
the smoke of the incense among the 
people in the temple. Earth is a ti- 
tle given to the Jewish nation, and 
here it is applied to the church of 
Christ, because they were in the 
Messiah's day to inherit the earth. 
It was formerly his, but he lost it by 
sin ; now he has regained it by suffer- 
ing for sin, the just for the unjust, to 
bring us to God.f 

And (here were voices. Weeping, 
praving, and shouting to God for de- 
liverance ; that is, because of the aw- 
ful calamities which were coming on 
the world. But voices may mean 
loud warnings from the ministers, to 



be ready, for in such an hour as they 
knew not the Son of 3Ian would come, 
and this with power and great glory, 
to take vengeance on the wicked, and 
all them who obeyed not his holy 
gospel. 

Thunderings. Of the law and the 
gospel from Sinai. 

And lightnings. Convictions and 
conversions. 

And an earthquake. A great sha- 
king among the dry bones ; they had 
been once more reanimated. God no 
doubt had now revived his work in a 
peculiar manner: this was a second 
pentecost, to prepare the church for 
their departure from each other. God 
always metes out his mercies to the 
exigencies of the case. His judsrments 
were now abroad in the land, and the 
heathen, through them, had become 
wise unto salvation, and had learned 
righteousness. But all this may be 
understood literally, as fearful signs 
and wonders had taken place in Ju- 
dea a short time before the destruction 



sin regards iniquity in his heart; and let him offer up what sacrifice he may, whether in 
prayer, praise, exhortation, or preaching, it is all an abomination in His sight. 

" That is, the fire of the Holy Ghost. Here the oldest and most holy apostle is repre- 
sented as filling the same office, under the gospel, as the high priest under the law, namely, 
offering sacrifices and burnt offerings on the altar, and interceding with God on behalf of 
the people. A minister of the blessed Savior has not only to pray to God in his own be- 
half, but to intercede with God in behalf of the church, that neither the shepherd nor the 
sheep may be finally cast away. 

t He cast it on both ministers and members. This is what we must understand by the 
earth, or else it will not be consistent with the beginning of the verse, and with the remain- 
der of the chapter. For voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, see chap. 4 : 5. 



REVELATIOX. 



113 



6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets 
prepared themselves to sound. 

7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and 
fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the 
earth : and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all 
green grass was burnt up. 



of Jerusalem. Is. 29 : 6 ; Luke, 21 : 
25, 26; Ex. 19:16; 20 : 18 ; Ezek. 
38 : 22. 

6 Prepare to sound. The alarm. 
This was a certain, not an uncertain, 
sound ; therefore the people must pre- 
pare for the battle. 

7 The first angel. The prophet 
Isaiah, whom the Jews had sawn 
asunder. Chap. 15: 6, 9. 

Hail and fire mingled with blood. 
The seven plagues of Egypt, which 
were now about to be poured out on 
spiritual Egypt where our Lord was 
crucified. They had at this time re- 
turned back to the flesh pots of Egypt, 
and deserved this punishment. These 
plagues were formerly the cause of 
their salvation and deliverance ; but 
now of their destruction. Ez. 13 : 13. 
Merciful Father, thy ways are un- 



searchable and past finding out. May 
we fear thee and keep thy command- 
ments, for we need to take heed lest, 
as God spared not the natural branches 
because of disobedience, he spare not 
us also, who are Gentiles, wild olive 
branches, grafted into the good olive 
tree, Christ. They were cut off be- 
cause of unbelief; we stand by faith. 
May we not be high minded, but 
fear.* 

The third part of the trees were 
burnt up. That is, in Judea, to raise 
fortifications for the Roman army. 
These fortifications, after the war was 
over, were burnt up as useless. But 
the trees may mean the head men and 
the flower of the nation, who were 
all destroyed, young and old, rich 
and poor.t 

And all green grass. Their vege- 



* This did not take pkce immediately, or else the other apostles could not make known 
their mission. The hail has reference to the Roman army, who had fire with them to burn 
the city of Jerusalem, and men of the most blood thirsty dispositions. As these are the 
seven plagues of Egypt with which the Jews were punished, as had been foretold by Mo- 
ses, Deut. 28 : 60, it is necessary to pay attention to the original text. The former reads 
thus : " there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail," &c. See Exod. 9 : 24. So that 
our text should read the same as the original, and it would be easier understood. 

t When the Roman army were levelling the ground where the camp stood, they had or- 
ders from their general to burn down all the shrubs round about them ; and not only this, but 
they cut down all the hedges, and threw down all the walls which the inhabitants had made 

U 



114 



NOTES ON THE 



8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a oreat 
mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea : and the 
third part of the sea became blood ; 



tables, grass, ornamental trees, and 
beautiful flower gardens and vine- 
yards, were all destroyed, that is, by 
the pestilence, famine, drought, and 
the horses and soldiers of the Roman 
army. The young and tender plants 
of the nation fell victims also in the 
siege.* 

8 The second angel. Ezekiel. See 
chap. 32:6; 13: 13; 14:19. 

A great mountain. A vast mul- 
titude of soldiers, fierce and terrible, 



and burning with fury against their 
enemies, f 

Was cast into the sea. To destroy 
their enemies and their shipping. A 
vast many Jews fled there for safety 
in ships and boats, that is, the sea of 
Gennesaret. See chap. 9 : 18. 

And the third part of the sea he- 
came blood. Because of the vast 
multitudes who were killed on both 
sides in the bloody sea fight. The 
battle was fought with desperation on 



about their gardens, and destroyed all the groves and fruit trees between the gardens and 
the walls of the city. And their banks, which they had first made, being burnt down by 
the Jews, they were obliged to go ninety furlongs for materials to rebuild them. And if it 
had been necessary to cut down the trees to the distance of ninety furlongs to raise the 
former banks, it necessarily follows that, as the latter were as extensive as the former, 
they had to cut down the trees ninety furlongs farther to raise them again. See Josephus, 
War, book 5 : 12. But the third part of the trees being burnt up may have reference to 
the third part of the nation, which was destroyed by the Romans. See chap. 9:18. But 
some may object to this, and say it could not have reference to either the Jews or the trees, 
for the latter were cut and not burnt down, and the former were partly destroyed by fire 
and partly by famine, &c. To this objection I would make the following reply, namely : 
that if we interpret the text literally we shall see effects produced by a shower of hail 
which we have never seen nor heard of since the beginning of the world ; and if we apply 
it to an army, we must easily perceive that they would not burn up trees which were ne- 
cessary to raise their banks and to fortify their camp ; more especially when there was no 
occasion for it. But that St. John meant no more by the third part of the trees being- 
burnt up than this, that they were destroyed or broken down, is very evident from Exodus, 
9 : 25, from which he has quoted this passage. 

* This includes vegetables as well as grass. The latter was partly burnt up by thei<r 
feet, but chiefly devoured by their beasts, and the former partly devoured by the Jews 
themselves, in consequence of the famine — but chiefly by the Romans. 

t The most valiant men from among the Roman soldiers. The reader will easily per- 
ceive, from the words as it were, that this is only a comparison, See chap. 6 : 14. 



REVELATION. 



115 



9 And the third part of the creatures which were in 
the sea, and had life, died ; and the third part of the ships 
were destroyed. 

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great 
star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell 
upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains 
of waters ; 



both sides. Six thousand Jews were 
destroyed in this battle.* 

9 The third part of the creatures 
died. This may mean the fish, or 
it may mean those who had fled there 
for refuge. One third part was spared 
who laid down their weapons and re- 
fused to fight against the Romans. 
The dead bodies of the slain, how- 
ever, were so numerous, and the 
stench from them so great, that nearly 
all the fish in the delightful and sweet 
waters of this lake died. See Ez. 32 : 
6; Is. 19 : 8. 

And the third part of the ships were 
destroyed. And consequently the third 



part of those who fought in them ; 
the Romans asked no quarters, and 
gave none ; those who took up arms 
against them were indiscriminately 
put to death. See Exod. 7 : 20, 21. 

10 The third angel. The prophet 
Jeremiah, called by the Rabbins the 
hitter, the weeping prophet, because 
he had drank the wormwood and the 
gall. Lam. 3:19. And he is here 
represented as descending from hea- 
ven to retaliate on the Jews who had 
made his life bitter, and to punish 
them with the pestilence, which poi- 
soned all the waters and fountains. 

A star fromheaven. The pestilence 



* This refers to the tremendous and bloody sea fight which took place between the 
Jews and Romans on the sea of Gennesaret. This lake is said to be a vein of the Nile, 
because it produces the Coracin fish. Its length is one hundred and forty furlongs, and its 
breadth forty. After this battle was fought, the lake, as far as you could see, was red 
with the blood of the miserable Jews who had fled there in ships for safety from the Ro- 
mans. Take the words of Josephus here : he says, the Romans leaped out of their ves- 
sels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land, besides those whom they destroyed 
on the sea. The lake was seen all bloody and full of dead bodies, for not one of them had 
escaped ; and a terrible stench and sad sight were endured upon the succeeding days over 
the country, for the shores were covered with shipwrecks and dead bodies, all swelled and 
putrefied in the sun, they corrupted the very air ; insomuch that the misery was not only 
the object of commiseration to the Jews, but to those who hated them, and had been the 
authors of that misery. Such was the upshot of the sea fight. The number of the slain, 
including a few that had been killed in the city of Tarichea, amounted to six thousand, 
See Josephus, War, book 3, 10 : 9. 



116 



NOTES ON THE 



1 And the name of the star is called Wormwood : 
and the third part of the waters became wormwood ; and 
many men died of the waters, because they were made 
bitter. 

12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of 
the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and 
the third part of the stars ; so as the third part of them 
was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of 
it, and the night likewise. 



which was sent from thence, wasting 
and destroying every thing before it. 
The air, the water, the animal and 
vegetable world, the fish of the sea, 
the fowls of the air, man and beast, 
were swept away by it.* 

11 And the third part of the waters 
hecame wormvjood. They became bit- 
ter, grievous, polluted, poisonous, be- 
cause changed into blood, polluted 
with the blood of the slain. f See 
Jer. 9: 15; 23 : 15. 

12 The fourth angel. The prophet 
Micah. See ch. 3 : 6. His name sig- 
nifies to smite, strike, or cause to smite. 

The third part of the sun was smit- 
ten, or eclipsed. It refused to shine 



because they had crucified and put 
to death the Sun of Righteousness, 
the Lord of life and glory. But it 
may be understood spiritually ; the 
bright luminaries of the church had 
withdrawn their light, refused to 
shine on them any more for ever. 
He that made them will not have 
pity upon them, and He that form- 
ed them will show them no favor. 
Isaiah, 27 : 11. The glorious Sun of 
Righteousness had now hid his face 
from them. The gospel, the moon 
of the church, refused to shine on 
them, for ever. The stars, the minis- 
ters of the churches, had withdrawn 
their light and influence, and there- 



* Christ, at the time this plague was poured out, reflected no light on either Jew3 or 
Gentiles, but upon his church only. He went before them as a pillar of cloud by day, 
and a pillar of fire by night. The cloud blindfolded the spiritual Egyptians, but reflected 
light upon the real Israel of God. See Exod. 10 : 23 ; 14 : 20. Chap. 6 : 12. 

t Nothing which came upon the Jews, in their war with the Romans, was more bitter 
than to have to drink water defiled with human blood. And as Gennesaret was a lake 
that afforded the most sweet and wholesome waters of all the lakes or fountains in the 
holy land, the Jews resorted thither for water in preference to any other place. And not 
only this, but their fountains of water were all dried up, so that many of them died with 
thirst, while the Romans had plenty of water for themselves and for their cattle. See Je- 
remiah, 8 ; 14, and 9- 



REVELATION. 



117 



13 And 1 beheld, and heard an angel flying through 
the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Wo, wo, 
wo, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other 
voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet 
to sound ! 



fore the national luminaries were left 
in complete spiritual darkness. God 
gave them over to strong delusions, to 
believe a lie, (viz. that Jesus is not the 
Christ,) that they all might be damn- 
ed who had pleasure in unrighteous- 
ness, and who obeyed not the truth. 
The Rabbins say when the sun, moon 
and stars are smitten, and refuse to 
shine, it is a very bad omen.* 

And the day shone not for a third 
part of it. The day of their calamity 
did not appear until it was at the very 
door ; but when their temple was de- 
stroyed they knew their security was 
for ever gone, and that God had aban- 
doned them to their enemies, and the 
deadly night of their spiritual blind- 
ness, stupidity, and apathy they did 
not discover until their enemies were 
in the possession of their city. 

13 An angel flying. An earthly 
one, who was preaching through the 
different churches — probably St. John 
himself, as he was then released from 
Patmos, 

Through the midst of heaven. 



Through the midst of the general 
church, the heaven on earth. This 
is the same angel, no doubt, who had. 
the everlasting gospel to preach to 
them who dwell on the earth. See 
chap. 14:6. 

Saying with a loud voice, Wo, wo, 
wo. It is very remarkable that this 
was precisely the language of a pious 
man named Jesus, in Jerusalem. A 
short time before the city was destroy- 
ed, he went round the city and cried 
aloud, Wo to the temple, wo to the 
city, and wo to me also ! and was 
struck dead with a stone. This may 
mean St. John himself. A dreadful 
wo was to follow the sounding of each 
of these ministers. 

The voices of three angels which are 
yet to sound. When they have sound- 
ed the alarm in the camp of Israel, it 
will be high time for the people to 
move forward, for the enemy will 
then be at their heels. In three years 
more the mystery of God will be fin- 
ished in the final destruction of the 
Jewish nation. 



* The thick cloud of the Roman army had eclipsed the sun, the moon, and stars. But 
when this cloud first began to make its appearance in Judea it was a sign to the christians 
to escape for their lives. See Matt. 24 : 16, 17. At this time the sun stood still upon Gi- 
heon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, until the enemies of the Lord were destroyed 
by the hailstones, the fire, and the sword, 



IIS 



NOTES ON THE 



CHAPTER IX. 1 

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from 
heaven unto the earth : and to him was given the key of 
the bottomless pit. 

2 And he opened the bottomless pit : and there arose 
a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; 
and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the 
smoke of the pit. 



1 The fifth angel sounded. A hea- 
venly angel, the prophet Joel, who is 
called a star in the next verse. He 
came to announce to the church that 
his prophecy was now on the very 
eve of fulfilment. See ch. 2 : 1, 20. 

The key. Full power to let loose 
the symbolic locusts, as he is the only 
prophet who prophesied of them ; he 
is represented as letting them loose 
from the camps to devour their ene- 
mies, and devastate the land of Judea. 

Bottomless pit. The pit of destruc- 
tion, a name given (by the Jews) to 
the Pvoman army, because of its idola- 
try, superstitions, and abominable 
wickedness. See chap. 13 : 14 ; Job, 
31 :12 ; Is. 14 : 9. 

2 He opened the pit. Let loose the 



locusts from their camp, hiding place. 
He gave the Roman army full liberty 
to tear, slay, and utterly consume the 
rebellious nation. This was in the 
year of our Lord sixty-five, the very 
time when Nero declared war against 
Christ and his church, as well as the 
Jews. Chap. 12:7. Our Lord's pre- 
dictions were now about to be fulfill- 
ed. Matt. 24 : 39. And he declares 
that " this (present) generation (of 
men) shall not pass away until all 
these things shall be fulfilled." And 
this was the case with some of his 
apostles. Peter and John lived to see 
a literal accomplishment of them.* 

A smoke out of the pit. Out of the 
camp which the soldiers set on fire 
when going to meet the enem} T . This 



* This angel let loose the army out of their camps, that were raised in the four quar- 
ters of the earth. See chap. 7 : 1. The other four angels had power to keep them con- 
fined there until the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads ; but this angel had 
power to let them loose to destroy the Jews. They are compared to hell, because of their 
unfathomable wickedness, abominable idolatry, and savage barbarity. 



K.EVELATIOX. 



119 



3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the 
earth : and unto them was given power, as the scorpion s 
of the earth have power. 



was a superstitious custom among 
them, to indicate that in like manner 
they should consume their enemies, 
as well as all who opposed them. 
The moment the camp was set on 
fire they gave three loud, tremen- 
dous cheers. See Jer. 50 : 42. This 
evidently shows that they were not 
only hostile, but also heathens. 

3 And there came out of the smoke 
locusts. A barbarous, cruel, and de- 



structive army, who devastated and 
devoured every thing before them ; 
took away life, property, and liberty. 
They made a wilderness of a fruitful 
land, stripped it of its cattle, pro- 
duce, property, and its inhabitants. 
They swept every thing before them, 
and like a hoard of eastern locusts, 
made the whole face of the coun- 
try bare and desolate. See Deut. 
28 : 42* 



* 1. The Roman army may be compared to locusts, because of their vast swarms, and 
continual reinforcements. In Barbary, in the latter part of March and the beginning of 
April, the locusts come in such vast swarms that they are like a succession of thick clouds ; 
the sun and the sky become darkened by them. 2. They may be compared to such be- 
cause of their ravenous disposition. See chap. 6, and the note on the last clause of the 
8th verse. A quotation from Baron de Tot's account of the locusts will help to throw some 
light upon this subject. He says that clouds of locusts frequently light on the plains of 
the Tartars, and giving preference to their fields of millet, ravage them in an instant ; their 
approach darkens the horizon, and so enormous is their multitude, that they hide the light 
of the sun ; they alight on the fields, and there form a bed of six or seven inches thick ; 
to the noise of their flight succeeds that of their devouring actively, which resembles the 
rattling of hailstones, but its consequences are infinitely more destructive ; fire itself eats 
not so fast, nor is there any appearance of vegetation to be found after they take their 
flight and go elsewhere to produce new disasters. 3. They may be compared to these in- 
sects because of their undaunted and persevering spirit ; they surmounted every difficulty, 
and even climbed up the walls of houses, and crept in at the windows, and destroyed their 
enemies. See Joel's prophecy respecting the Roman army, chap. 2 : 9. Dr. Shaw says 
that the young brood of locusts make their appearance in the month of June ; that they 
form themselves into a compact body of more than a furlong square, and marching directly 
forward, they climb over trees, and walls, and houses, devouring every plant in their way. 
They entered, he observes, into our very houses and bedchambers, like so many thieves. 
See Shaw's travels, page 187. 4. They may be compared to them in another instance. 
When they came to battle, the whole army was brought against the enemy in one entire 
body ; their ranks were well coupled together, their turnings very sudden, their attention 



120 



NOTES ON THE 



4 And it was commanded them that they should not 
hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, nei- 
ther any tree ; but only those men which have not the 
seal of God in their foreheads. 



On the earth. To fight the bloody 
battle of Harmageddon, and cause hu- 
man blood to come up to the horses' 
bridles. 

And unto them, was given power. 
Limited, restricted power was given 
unto them by the angel to destroy 
fcheir enemies, but not to touch their 
friends, that is, the christians who 
were striving to save them from per- 
dition. The one rebelled against the 
"government and were destroyed, the 
other rendered unto all their dues, — 
"tribute to whom tribute, honor to 
whom honor, fear to whom fear ;" 
they were innocent, inoffensive, and 
submissive to " the powers that be ;" 
''feared God and honored the king." 
The more pious christians we have 
in a kingdom or country the less dan- 
ger of rebellion. Therefore the reli- 
gion of Jesus should be patronised and 
sanctioned by all governments. Dis- 
regard this and law will become a 
mere rope of sand. If infidelity should 
gain the ascendency in this or any 
other nation, the government and aris- 
tocracy are sure to be the first to fall. 
This was the case in France fifty- 
five years since. 



! 4 It was commanded them,. By the 
guardian angel alluded to, not to in- 
jure (destroy) the grass, the church of 
Christ, which, like grass, was young, 
green, flourishing, prosperous. See 
Is. 40 : 7. 

Nor any green thing. Any young 
and tender plant in the Lord's vine- 
yard, no matter whether rich or poor, 
young or old, black or white, bond or 
free, for God is no respecter of per- 
sons ; but in every nation and every 
place he that feareth him and worketh 
righteousness shall be accepted of him. 

Nor any tree. That is, any fruitful 
tree, (of the Lord's right hand plant- 
ing,) minister of Jesus, who is living, 
laboring, and preaching for eternity. 

Men which have not the seal of God. 
The salvation of the gospel ; without 
this they were insecure, and the ene- 
my had full power over them, that is, 
to utterly destroy them. This is the 
only security we have in life or death, 
in time or eternity. The angel of 
death was now going to pass through 
spiritual Egypt, and to destroy all the 
first born in it, whether man or beast ; 
but he was forbid to touch any of the 
persons who were sprinkled with the 



to the word of command quick, and their hands nimble when set to work ; and if they had 
to suffer they bore it with great patience. Josephus observes that there was hardly an 
Instance known wherein they have been conquered in battle, when they came to a close 
fight, either by the multitudes of their enemies, or by their stratagems, or by the difficul- 
ties in the places they were in. See War, book 3, 5 : 7. 



REVELATION. X21 

5 And to them it was given that they should not kill 
them, but that they should be tormented five months : and 
their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he 
striketh a man. 



blood of the paschal Lamb of God. 

5 Should not kill them. They tor- 
mented them first by the sight of the 
army and engines, and then encom- 
passed them on every side with a wall. 
And finally, the pestilence, famine and 
sword followed after.* 

Five months. This is a most re- 
markable prediction, and was literally 
and exactly fulfilled. It was precisely 
five months from the time that Titus 



besieged the city until it was laid in 
ashes, and the inhabitants utterly de- 
stroyed. He began the siege in April 
and ended it in the following Septem- 
ber. See Joseph us. 

As the torment of a scorpion. As 
the poisonous and deadly sting of a 
venemous serpent, ending in delerium 
tremens, the very worst kind of mad- 
ness. Deuteronomy, 22 ; 28 ; Zecho 
12 : 4.f 



* When Vespasian marched, his army against the city of Jotapata, to destroy it, he 
deemed it more prudent to starve them into a surrender than force them to it by the 
power of his arms, as he supposed they would be forced to petition him for mercy by want 
of provisions ; or if they should have the courage to hold out till the last, they would per- 
ish by the famine. And he concluded he could conquer them the more easily in fighting 
if he gave them an interval, and then fell upon them when they were weakened by the 
famine. And when Titus, his son, marched his army against Jerusalem, he held a con- 
sultation with his officers, to determine which was the best method to pursue in order to 
conquer their enemies. Titus gave his opinion, that if they aimed at quickness, joined 
with security, they must build a wall round about the whole city, which was, he thought, 
the only thing to prevent escape any way, and then they would either entirely despair of 
saving the city, and so would surrender it up to him, or be still the more easily conquered 
•when the famine had further weakened them. This resolution was carried into effect, and 
the wall was built round about the whole city. See Josephus, War, book 5, 12. 

t 1. They were tormented at the sight of the ensigns which the Romans carried at the 
head of every legion. 2, Titus, in ©rder to frighten them into a surrender, brought out 
his whole army of horse and foot in their full armor, before the walls of the city, and the 
north side of the temple, and the old wall ; and the houses were full of spectators. And 
at this sight of the army a great consternation had seized upon the hardiest of the Jews °, 
but this, instead of making them surrender, was only a means of greater torment. 

3. Their engines threw showers of darts and stones in upon them in vast quantities^ 

4. They cut the flesh off their backs with whips and cords. See chap. 6 : 14, 5. They tor- 
mented them with hunger and thirst, and this had the same effect as if bitten by a scor- 

16 



122 NOTES ON THE 

6 And in those days shall men seek' death, and shall 
not find it : and shall desire to die, and death shall flee 
from them. 

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses 
prepared unto battle ; and on their heads were as it were 
crowns like gold, and their faces ivere as the faces of men. 



6 Shall seek death and shall not 
find it. Shall earnestly desire it, in 
order to put an end to their misery in 
this life, but shall not be gratified un- 
til cut off' by the sword of the enemy. 
They desired most anxiously to die 
by the hands of their own people, ra- 
ther than perish by the hands of a 
cruel and barbarous enemy. This, 
Josephus observes, the citizens re- 
quested repeatedly; but this favor 
was denied them even by the robbers 
among the people.* 

7 Like horses prepared for battle. 
That is,, more properly like horsemen 
armed and equipped for battle. They 
had plenty of money, provisions and 
provender to carry on an extensive 
war. See Joel, 2:4; Jer. 50 : 42. 

Crowns. Of honor, glory, fame, &c. 
See Ps. 8:5. But the crown and 



the hair refer more particularly to 
the brilliant brass helmet which the 
horseman wore, which was orna- 
mented with horse hair that came 
down, over the neck and back. See 
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Anti- 
quities, edited by Chas. Anthon, 1843. 

Faces of men. Bold, courageous, 
fierce, terrible, dreadful, barbarous. 
They showed no mercy to the young 
or the old, the rich or the poor. This 
is the character which Moses gave of 
them two thousand years previous, 
and this before they became a nation. 
Hence, " the Lord shall bring against 
you a nation from afar, swift as the 
eagle that flieth, and whose language 
thou shalt not understand ; a nation of 
fierce countenance, who shall not re- 
gard either young or old." Deut. 28 r 
49, 50. See Dan. 8 : 28. 



pion ; their misery was so great that some of them died for want of water, and others with 
hunger; while some, through means of the famine, became swelled up like bladders when 
blown with wind, others wasted away until they became mere shadows, and at last drop- 
ped down dead in the streets through perfect weakness ; while some fell by the sword, 
and others perished in the flames. See Amos, 9 : 3. 

* Josephus, when speaking of the barbarous conduct of the robbers at Jerusalem, says,, 
that in order to prove what metal their swords were made of, they thrust some of the people 
through who were just dying by means of the famine. But for those that entreated them 
to lend them their right hands and their swords to dispatch them, they were too obdurate 
to grant them their requests, and left them to be consumed by the famine. See. Jer. 3 tS-'o, 



REVELATION. 



123 



"8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their 
teeth were as the teeth of lions. 

9 And they had breast-plates, as it were breast-plates 
of iron ; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of 
chariots of many horses running to battle. 

10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there 
were stings in their tails ; and their power was to hurt 
men five months. 



8 As the hair of women. The 
horse hair suspended from the sol- 
diers' helmets must have appeared 
very much like the hair of women, 
especially when going through rapid 
movements. Hair, among the Rab- 
bins, is an emblem of strength. Hence, 
to pluck off the hair is to take off the 
covering or garments. Isaiah, 50 : 6 ; 
Jer. 7 : 29. 

As the teeth of lions. Long, sharp, 
and powerful weapons of defence, such 
as darts, arrows, swords, spears, &c. 
Joel, 1:6. The lion is an emblem of 
terror, dread, majesty, power, domi- 
nion, and the teeth are his weapons 
of warfare, with which he tears his 
enemies in pieces. The lion means 
the general, and his teeth the wea- 
pons of warfare.* 



9 Breast-plates of iron. That re- 
sisted the dart and the spear. 

The sound of their wings. The 
rattling noise of the cavalry when 
pursuing the enemy, and especially 
their loud and savage yells when cut- 
ting down the enemy. 

10 Tails like unto scorpions. Ser- 
vants, slaves, and feeble soldiers, who 
followed the main body of the army, 
and fought most desperately in the 
siege of Jerusalem. 

The head. Among the Jews, means 
the master ; the tail, the servant, slave. 
Deut. 28 : 13. For a more full ac- 
count of this see Josephus, War, 
book 5, 2. 

Stings. Envy, malice, hatred, re- 
venge — all were combined to utterly 
destroy the rebellious city and nation. 



* The men who were chosen out from among the rest of the soldiers to be about the gene- 
ral had a lance and a buckler ; but the rest of the foot soldiers carried a spear, and a long 
buckler, besides a saw, a basket, a pickaxe, and an axe, also a thong of leather and a hook, 
with provisions sufficient to support them for three days ; so that a foot soldier had no need 
of a mule to carry his burdens ; and the horsemen carried a long sword on their right sides, 
and a long pole in their hand, a shield also lay obliquely on one side of their horses, 
with three or more darts that were borne in their quiver, having broad points, and not 
smaller than spears. Josephus. 



124 



NOTES ON THE 



11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel 
of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue 
is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name 
Apollyon. 

12 One wo is past ; and behold, there come two woes 
more hereafter. 



She first abandoned God, and then he 
abandoned her, and gave her up to 
vile affections, and then to utter 
ruin.* 

11 A king over them. A head man, 
a chief, a general of the army. Jo- 
sephus calls Titus a king, when but a 
general. War, book 5, 2 : 2. Arehe- 
laus is called such when only tetrach. 
Matt. 2 : 22 ; Acts, 4 : 26. And here 
Vespasian is styled such when only 
general of the army. This mode of 
expression is frequently to be found 
in the Rabbinical writings. But he 
was such prospectively, was on the 
eve of being crowned such. 

The angel of the bottomless pit. 
The general of the Roman army, min- 
ister of war. See below. 

In the Hebrew tongue. In which 
no doubt John wrote his book of Rev- 
elations. If he wrote it in Greek he 
would have named it first. It is evi- 
dent, therefore, that this beast is the 



identical one prophesied of by Daniel, 
who cast down the sanctuary, and 
caused the daily sacrifice to cease for 
ever. 

Abaddon. The destroyer, desola- 
ter of the world, who was to make 
Judea like a wilderness. The army 
under his command are called by our 
Lord the abomination of desolation, 
because detested by God and man, 
and hated especially by the Jews for 
their abominable idolatry. John calls 
the army the pit of perdition, 

hell on earth, because so vile, wick- 
ed, barbarous, inhuman. And Jere- 
miah calls the king of it mash-gith 
go-yim, the destroyer of the heathen. 
Chap. 4 : 7. Greek Aroxxvarv a jpol- 
lu-on. The verb means to kill, slay, 
cut off, destroy with the sword. The 
general, therefore, derived his name 
from the pit, or the army, itself, f 

12 One wo is past. That is, the 
first one, namely, the loosing the lo- 



^ * The poison of envy and malice was in their heart against the Jews the same as that 
of the officers and soldiers. Josephus farther observes, that the army which Titus brought 
to Ptolemais amounted to sixty thousand, besides the servants that followed after them in 
vast numbers ; because they had been trained up in the war with the rest of the soldiers f 
they ought not to be distinguished from the rest of the fighting men, for as they were in 
their masters' service in the times of peace, so did they undergo the like dangers with 
them in the times of war, insomuch that they were inferior to none either in skill or in 
strength. See War, book 3, 5. 

T This name is more applicable to Vespasian than to any other officer or general in the 



REVELATION. 



125 



13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice 
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 

14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, 
Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river 
Euphrates. 

15 And the four angels were loosed, which were pre- 



custs from their camps. The army 
had now set out on their march for 
Jndea. 

13 The sixth angel. The prophet 
Zechariah, a heavenly ambassador, 
ministering spirit to the church. I 
have no doubt that all the heavenly 
host were sent to earth at this time 
to protect the general church in every 
part of the world. 

Sounded. Proclaimed aloud to the 
churches of Asia that this prophecy 
was just about to be fulfilled, that the 
four symbolic horses were now pre- 
pared, and on their march into Judea. 
Chap. 6 : 2-6. 

A voice. A warning, admonition, 
alarm. Zech. 1 : 18. 

From the four horns of the golden 
altar. From the four chief apostles, 
who were priests and kings unto God 
and the Father. Chap. 4:7. Pro- 
bably Zechariah appeared to them 



first, and then to the churches after- 
wards. They were also admonishing 
the people to be ready for the Lord's 
coming to this special judgment. 

14 Loose the four angels. The four 
destroying angels ; give them full 
power and authority to unite their 
forces with the main body of the ar- 
my, and march with them against the 
enemy of God and man. These were 
the four generals or governors of the 
east, who headed the legions under 
their command. See Josephus, War, 
book 5, 1 : 6. 

In the great river Euphrates. This 
army was raised in that part of the 
country to carry on the Parthean war ; 
but as peace was now restored, the ar- 
my was ordered from there by Nero 
to the seat of war in Judea. 

15 Prepared. Armed, equipped, 
and disciplined. 

For an hour, Sfc. That is for a short 



Roman empire. In the reign of Claudius he was sent as a lieutenant of a legion into Ger- 
many, and by his great courage and good success in this war he brought the west into sub- 
jection to the Romans ; and it was by his means that Claudius triumphed over Britain, 
where Vespasian had fought thirty battles before he had conquered them. See Suetonius 
in Vespasian. St. John has reference to the 4th chapter and 7th verse of Jeremiah, the 
only place in the scripture, that I know of, where the destroyer of the Gentiles is men- 
tioned. The prophet evidently saw, and this many hundred years previous, that he was 
the very person who was to destroy Jerusalem, See verses 13 and 14. He was to come 
at the head of the northern nation, which undoubtedly means the Romans. See v. 6. 



126 



NOTES ON THE 



pared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for 
to slay the third part of men. 

16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were 
two hundred thousand thousand : and I heard the number 
of them. 

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them 
that sat on them, having breast-plates of fire, and of ja- 



time, one campaign, or during the 
war. It may mean the twelve hun- 
dred and sixty days, or only the five 
or six months which they served un- 
der Titus. 

To slay. With the sword, or by 
war and bloodshed. 

The third part of men. That is, 
the third part of the rebellious nation ; 
one third, who submitted and laid 
down their arms, were spared ; the 
others destroyed. The third part of 
men, since then, have never been cut 
off as yet, and never will be, by a 
special judgment, until the world is 
finally destroyed at the general judg- 
ment. See Joel, 3 : 3. 

16 The number of the army. They 
were innumerable, a vast, a very great 
army. In Yalkot Simeoni it speaks 
of nine hundred and sixty thousand 



millions of angels before the throne of 
God. A similar mode of expression 
is used in John, 21 : 25 : "I suppose 
that the world itself could not contain 
the books that should be written." 
We Gentiles frequently say a vast 
army, they were without number ; 
when probably they were not more 
than sixty thousand men.* 

17 Breast-plates. Rabbinical, for 
hearts full of fire, fury, anger; jacinth, 
zeal, revenge ; brimstone, envy, ma- 
lice, hatred. But they had fire, fag- 
got, and brimstone with them in abun- 
dance, to burn up and consume ci- 
ties, towns, houses, and fortifications. 
This is no doubt the reason why John 
compares them to the pit of hell. 

As the heads of lions. Bold, fierce, 
terrible, dreadful to their enemies. 
The heads mean the generals and of- 



* This is a certain number to signify an uncertain. He saw the army in the revelation, 
but there was no necessity to know the number of them ; it was enough to know that it 
was sufficient to destroy the Jews. But the probability is, that he had reference to all the 
army of the Roman empire, for nearly the same terms are made use of in chap. 5 : 11, to 
represent the church of Christ throughout the world. But some may object to this, and 
say that St. John had heard the number of them ; but the number, as is expressed in the 
next clause of this verse, has reference to the sight of the army that he had seen in the 
vision, and not to the extent of them. See the same expression made use of in the last 
chapter and verse quoted. 



REVELATION, 



127 



cinth, and brimstone : and the heads of the horses were as 
the heads of lions ; and out of their mouths issued fire, 
and smoke, and brimstone. 

18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by 
the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which 
issued out of their mouths. 

19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails ; 
for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and 
with them they do hurt. 

20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by 
these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, 



ficers of the army, chief head men. 

Out of their mouths issued fire. Fu- 
ry, anger, revenge. This may refer 
to the inflammatory speeches of the 
generals and head men, with which 
they infuriated the soldiers with mad- 
ness against their enemies. The 
speeches of the .Rabbins are said to be 
fire proceeding out of their mouths. 
Tal. Bab. Cholen, fol. 137: 2. 

19 Their power is in their mouth. 
In the speaker, orator. Titus and his 
father Vespasian were famous for in- 
flammatory speeches; they excited 
the soldiers to madness when about to 
attack the enemy. 



The tails. Servants, slaves, sol- 
diers — which proves that the army 
was heathen, and not christian. 

20 The rest of the men. The rob- 
bers and murderers in the city, Si- 
mon, John, Elezer ; and their parties 
repented not, did not renounce the 
hidden works of dishonesty, and turn 
to God with all their hearts. The fact 
is, they would in a short time have 
destroyed the city had not Titus 
marched against it and besieged it 
with his army.* 

Should not worship devils and idols 
of gold. They sacrificed unto devils, 
not to God ; to gods whom they knew 



* Josephus says that Simon, the tyrant, with his engines of war, had thrown darts at 
John and his party from the upper part of the city, which he had in his possession ; and 
some of the darts came with such force that they went over all the buildings, and 
reached as far as the altar of the temple itself, and fell upon the priests and those that 
were about the sacred offices, insomuch that many persons who came thither with great 
zeal, from the ends of the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which was es- 
teemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices, and sprinkled that altar, 
which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, with their own blood. 



12S 



NOTES ON THE 



that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and 
silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood : w r hich neither 
can see, nor hear, nor walk : 

21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their 
sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. 



not, new gods that came newly up, 
whom their fathers feared not ; and of 
the rock (Christ) who begat them 
they were unmindful, and forgot God. 
who had formed them ; and when the 
Lord saw it he abhored them, and 
gave them over into the hands of a 
cruel enemy, who showed them no 
mercy. Deut. 32: 17, 18. 

21 Neither repented they of their 
murders. The thousands which they 



had slain in the temple and at the very 
altar, when they were offering up 
their daily sacrifices to God. Sodom 
and Gomorrah, Josephus declares, 
never produced a worse generation of 
men. The fact is, they had become 
a nation of atheists ; the very filth and 
offscouring of the world. Jerusalem 
at this time was more vile and wick- 
ed than even France in the reign of 
terror, or in the time of Robespierre. 



till the dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country- 
men, and those of profane persons with those of the priests. And the blood of all sorts 
of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves. See Josephus, War, book 
5, 1 : 3. And not only this, but the Jews murdered their own Messiah and his pious fol- 
lowers, and they have never repented of it, even to the present time. 



CHAPTER X. 

AND I saw another mighty angel come down from hea- 
ven, clothed with a cloud : and a rainbow was upon his 



1 Another mighty angel. That is, him to seal it up, or keep it secret 
Gabriel, who appeared to Daniel to from the world until the end, that is, 
reveal the mystery of God, but told of its fulfilment. Daniel, 12 : 4, 7. 



REVELATION. 129 

head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as 
pillars of fire : 

2 And he had in his hand a little book open ; and he 
set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the 
earth, 

3 And cried with a loud voice, as wlien a lion roareth . 



And now he appears in the end of the 
Jewish world to St. John, when in 
the Island of Patmos, to let him know 
that the book of Daniel is unsealed, 
revealed to the church, and will be 
soon to the world. See chap. 20 : 1. 

Clothed with a cloud. This may 
mean power and authority to destroy 
the world. Gabriel is God's prime 
minister, and has more power than 
any other angel in heaven. Formerly 
he came on a mission of mercy, now 
on a mission of justice. He came then 
to save the Jews, now to destroy them. 
See Luke 1 : 19 ; 2 : 9. Daniel, how- 
ever, states that he was clothed in 
Hnen ; but the linen and cloud mean 
the same thing, justice, holiness. He 
oame to execute justice on the unr 
godly. 

A rainbow. The glory of God, 
that shone round about him when the 
shepherds saw him at the birth of our 
Savior ; his face or appearance was 
so luminous, glorious, majestic, that 
they were terrified, and fell to the 
earth. See Luke, 2 : 9. 

His feet like pillars of fire. In Da- 



niel, like pillars of brass, (Dan. 10 : 5,) 
which shone and glistened like gold. 
His feet may mean angels who accom- 
panied or came before him, to an- 
nounce his appearance ; they were his 
messengers to carry the news to the 
people ; probably the seven angels 
named in chap. 16 : 1. 

2 A little book open. A little roll, 
that is, the prophecy of Daniel, which 
was now unsealed, or revealed to the 
church, and would be to the world 
very soon. Dan. 12 : 9. 

His right foot on the sea, and his left 
foot on the earth. To denote the de- 
struction of Christ's enemies by sea 
and by land. 

3 He cried with a loud voice. So 
as to be heard by sea and by land. 
He is now sent on a particular mission 
to announce a special judgment; but 
at the last day he will be sent in the 
same way to announce the general 
judgment, and declare to the whole 
world that time shall be no longer. 
Therefore be ye also ready, for in 
such an hour as ye think not the Son 
of Man will come.* 



* This is the very angel that God will send to swear that time shall be no longer with 
us Gentiles ; and then woe to a world of unbelievers, it would be good for them if they had 
sever been born $ they will be calling for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, and 

17 



NOTES ON THE 



and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their 
voices. 

4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their 
voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from 
heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the 
seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 

5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and 
upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, 

6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 



Seven thunders uttered their voices. 
From the boanerges or sons of thunder 
— the ministers of the seven churches 
of Asia ; each of them sounded the 
trumpet of alarm to his congregation, 
that Gabriel, God's prime minister,, 
had made his appearance to John in 
the Island of Pa1;mos; announced to 
him the fulfilment of Daniel's pro- 
phecy,, viz, that the daily sacrifice 
should now cease for ever, the temple 
and the holy city be destroyed, and 
the abomination of desolation set up; 
that the twelve hundred and sixty 
day s hadoommenced ; and; these things 



should be communicated privately to 
the churches. But this may allude 
to the voices of the heavenly messen- 
gers. Chap. 16: 1. 

4 Seal up those things. Keep them 
secret from the world at present, but 
let the church know of them pri- 
vately.* 

5 Lifted up kis hand to heaven. He 
appealed to the chief magistrate of 
heaven, the highest authority there, 
the Judge of all the earth, the hord- 
Jesus, for he could swear by no 
greater, f 

6 Swear by him that liveth for ever 



hide them from the face of Him that- sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the 
Lamb ; but their cries will be all useless, the Lord will have no pity on them. 

* What these seven apostles uttered at this time is not easy to determine, but they be- 
gan to sound as soon as they heard Gabriel's voice } and as they had finished their mission 
to the Jews, it could not have reference to what they had declared to them. This was 
made manifest already. It must, therefore, have reference to the church ; and very pro- 
bably they had been giving the people directions where they must flee to in order to be 
preserved from the power of the Roman army r and this was necessary to be kept secret 
from the world, as the Romans would no doubt pursue and destroy them a3 well as the 
Jews. 

t It was an ancient practice among both Jews and Romans to raise up or stretch forth 
ihe right hand if going to make an appeal to matter of foot. See Acts. 26 ijl, Whers 



REVELATION. 



131 



treated heaven, and the things that therein are, and the 
earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and 
the things which are therein, that there should be time 
no longer: 



and ever. He that was dead and is 
alive, and livetli for evermore, and 
who hath the keys of hell and of 
death. Chap. 1 : 18.* This was not 
an oath, but simply an appeal to the 
King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Who created heaven. The abode 
of the blessed. 

And the things that are. therein. 
Angels and arch- angels, and all the 



spirits of the just made perfect. 

And all the earth. The whole ter- 
raqueous globe, with all on it, and in 
it. Therefore Christ must be God 
over all, and blessed for ever. 

That time should be no longer. That 
is, no longer than the time, times, and 
half a time, twelve hundred and sixty 
days. Chap. 11 : 3.f 

When he shall begin to sound. 



the Roman soldiers were ready to march against their enemies, the crier stood at the 
general's right hand, and asked them three times, in their own language, if they were now 
ready to go out to war, or not ; to which they replied as often, with a loud and cheerful 
voice, saying, We are ready ", and to confirm this, they all lifted up their right hands, 
And we know that no oath, at present, among Christians, is considered lawful unless the 
person either lifts up his right hand to heaven, or lays it on the Bible. 

* This is an appeal to our Savior, which is evident from what follows, where the power 
of creation is ascribed to him. See chap. 1:8; 4 : 11. And if this wise, perfect, and holy 
angel made such a solemn appeal to God, it necessarily follows that it is no sin for us to 
take an oath on a particular occasion in a court of justice; and if our Savior is the person 
alluded to, then no christian magistrate has a right to administer an oath unless in his name, 

t This is a quotation from the 12th chap, and 7th verse of Daniel; he said he "heard 
the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his 
right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever, that it 
shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the 
power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." 

The man clothed in linen.— That is, Gabriel ; he calls him a man, because he appear, 
ed to him in human form. The linen was an emblem of his holiness. 

Which was upon the waters of the river. — See verse 2. It is rendered in our transla- 
tion sea; but it means no more than a river, or a lake, according to this verse. See chap- 
ter 8 : 8. 

i That it shall be for a time.— That is, one year, Chaldee. 
Times. — That is, two years. 



132 



NOTES ON THE 



7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, 
when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should 
be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the pro- 
phets. 

8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake 
unto me again, and said, Go, and take the little book 
which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth 
upon the sea and upon the earth. 

9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give 



That is, at the commencement of the 
twelve hundred and sixty days. 

7 The voice of the seventh angel. 
That is, Daniel. His voice means 
the fulfilment of his prophecy. When 
this took place the whole mystery of 
God was revealed, and the calendar 
of prophecy ended. 

The mystery of God will he finish- 
ed. All things, written in the law and 
the prophets, shall then be fulfilled. 
See Luke, 21 : 23. The signs of the 
times indicate this ; wars and rumors 
of wars, nation rising against nation, 



kingdom against kingdom, &c. &c. 
But all these are only the commence- 
ment of the troubles. 

8 The voice from heaven said, Go. 
This was the voice and command of 
Christ himself, not of Gabriel. 

Take the little hook which is open. 
The prophecy of Daniel, which is 
now clear and manifest. 

Take it. As thy portion, and keep 
it in thy possession until called upon 
to announce it to the world. See chap. 
15 : 16.* 

9 And eat Receive it by faith 



And an half. — That is, a half year ; in all three years and a half, exactly answering tc- 
twelve hundred and sixty days. 

And when he shall have accomplished. — That is, fulfilled the time allotted him. 

To scatter the power of the holy people, — That is, to deliver them into the hands of 
the Romans to destroy them, and lead them into captivity. For holy people, see chap- 
ter 11 : 2. 

And these things shall be finished.— KM the prophecies of Daniel, &c. shall then ba 
fulfilled in the extent. 

* This is an express command given to John himself, and not to any other apostle, be- 
fore he was commanded to seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered ; and now 
he is commanded the second time to go and take the book out of the angel's hand, that 
he might read the contents of it to the Jews. If John himself is not the person that took 
the book out of the angel's hand, then he is not the person who was forbid to seal up the 
things which the seven thunders uttered, and to write them not. 



REVELATION", 



133 



me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and 
eat it up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall 
be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 

10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, 
and ate it up ; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey : 
and as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter. 

11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophecy again 



and prayer, and with great power 
and authority announce it to the world. 
See Ez. 3 : 2.* 

And I (John) took it. Eat it, swal- 
lowed it up by faith. John speaks 
here of himself, personally, and not of 
another person or thing. Therefore 
he must have been one of the two 
witnesses spoken of in chap. 11:3. 
We have no authority whatever to 
interpret it of any other person or 
thing. And the whole chapter will 
bear no other construction. 

10 It was sweet as honey. It was 
sweet to me to do my blessed Mas- 
ter's will ; but bitter, grievous, indeed, 
to announce to my own beloved nation 
that God was now going to utterly 
destroy them by the Roman army ; 
and it is bitter, especially, as 1 know 
I shall lose my life in the discharge of 
my duty ; they will murder me as 
they did my Lord and Master before 
me. But thy will, O Lord, not mine, 
be done. 

11 And he said unto me. That is, 
to John. This was part of his mis- 



sion, to inform him of the will of his 
Lord and Master, that is, that he must 
prepare for the last great conflict with 
his countrymen at Jerusalem, to die 
a martyr for Jesus. 

Thou must prophecy again. Thou, 
thyself, in person, (not by proxy,) 
must preach Christ and him crucified 
again to the Jews. " Show my peo- 
ple their transgressions, and the house 
of Israel their sin." They may yet 
repent, obtain mercy, and finally put 
themselves under the protection of 
King Messiah. Happy would it have 
been for them if they had done this ; 
the city would never have been de- 
stroyed by the Roman army. But 
the world must perceive that God 
was willing to save them even at the 
eleventh hour, if they had repented. 
" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, (says he,) 
thou that killest the prophets, and 
stonest them that are sent unto thee, 
how often would I have gathered thy 
children together under my wings, (of 
protection,) as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, but ye 



* It will prove a blessing instead of a curse—- knowing that then you shall be clear of 
the blood of all men, and nothing can hinder your happy soul from entering into the abode 
of the blessed. 



134 ' NOTES ON THE 

before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. 



would not come ; but now these things 
are for ever hid from thy view ; and 
thou shalt see me no more until ye 
shall say, Blessed is he that cometh 
in the name of the Lord." Luke, 
13 : 34, 35. 

Before many people. At the yearly 
feast of the passover, when the Jews 
and Gentiles will be present from 
every part of the world. Remember * 
John, this will be the very last pass- 
over which they shall ever eat in Je- 
rusalem, until the city and temple 
shall be destroyed, and the blood of 
the people be mingled with the blood 
of their sacrifices at the altars 



And nations. Who will be present 
in Judea to assist the Romans in their 
war with the Jews. 

And tongues. Foreigners. You 
can preach to them in foreign lan- 
guages, as you had the gift of tongues 
conferred on you at the day of Pen- 
tecost. 

Kings-. Generals, princes, gover- 
nors of different provinces ; they will 
all be present with the Roman army 
in Judea. But this clause may refer 
to the various nations, characters and 
distinguished personages who came to 
Jerusalem yearly to celebrate the 
passover. 



CHAPTER XI. 

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and 
the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of 
God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 



1 A reed. Precious faith, the sub- 
stance of things hoped for, the evi- 
dence of things not seen ; it looks into 
futurity and comprehends the length 
and breadth, the depth and height 
of the new and heavenly Jerusalem. 
John is the prophetic Zerubbabel, mas- 
ter-builder of the tabernacle, which 
the Lord pitched and not man ; he 



by faith and prayer laid the founda- 
tion of it, and by faith and prayer he 
is now called upon to measure it. 

Like a rod. Like Aaron's rod that 
budded, blossomed, and brought forth 
the fruits of holiness. Faith without 
works is dead, and works without 
faith are equally so. 

Rise and measure the temple, the 



REVELATIOX, 



135 



2 But the court which is without the temple, leave out, 
and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles : and 



church of the living God. Zech. 2 1 2. 
You laid the foundation and helped to 
complete, establish, and raise up the 
building; now examine it by faith 
and prayer, and know of a surety 
whether all is fit for the final resi- 
dence of the King of kings and Lord 
of lords. 

And the altar. The ministers of 
the church who are in Christ's stead 
on earth, find out whether ministers 
and members are holy ; for without 
holiness no man shall see the Lord — 
all shall now be proved and purified 
by a fiery ordeal. The ministers are 
Christ's altar on earth, to offer up 
spiritual sacrifices on behalf of the 
people ; and Jesus is our golden altar 
in heaven, on which the sacrifices of 
the whole world are offered up daily. 
Blessed be his name for ever and ever. 
Amen.* 

And them that worship therein. The 
true Israel of God who worship Christ 
in spirit and in truth. 

2 The court without the temple leave 
out. That is the Jews, they have 
now become Gentiles, complete hea- 



thens ; they are not included in the 
temple of God ; they are outside the 
pale of Christ's church ; the door of 
mercy is shut against them, because 
of unbelief and rejection of the Mes- 
siah, Therefore leave them to pe- 
rish in their sins, j 

Measure it not. Because unholy, 
unrighteous, they cannot be measured 
by faith, and should be condemned by 
the Judge of all the earth. They are 
all infidels ; they acknowledge not 
the Son of God, and therefore have 
neither the Father nor the Son, and 
are anti- Christ. 

It is given unto the Gentiles. The 
Roman arm} 7 . As Christ cannot con- 
vert them, their enemies must now 
destroy them. 

And the holy city. That is of Je- 
rusalem. A title by which it had 
long been designated, because former- 
ly a holy place and people. It is 
still called by the Jews, the holy 
city. But the glory has departed, 
and it is now a city of murderers and 
robbers. See Neh. 11 : 1 ; Is. 48 : 2 ; 
52 : 1 ; Jer. 11:1; Dan. 9 : 24 ; Matt, 



* That is, Christ is the golden altar that sanctified their gifts ; they were altars of 
earth, ordained of God to sanctify the gifts and offerings of the church. At this time 
there was no person in the church better calculated to measure the holiness that each 
minister and member had arrived to than St. John, for be was the oldest and most holy 
apostle of any then living. 

t The Jews in this verse are compared to the outer court of the Gentiles that was ad- 
joining to the Jewish temple, to show that, according to their faith and vile conduct, they 
could no more be admitted into the church of Christ than a heathen into their own tem- 
ple. See chap. 2.1 : 27. 



136 



NOTES ON THE 



the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two 
months. 



A": 5 ; 27 : 53. Josephus, Chrysos- 
trum and Jerome call it the holy 
city. 

Shall they tread under foot. If 
there were not another text in the 
Revelation to prove that Jerusalem 
was not destroyed before the apoca- 
lipse was written, this is sufficient. 
For this is the very expression which 
our Lord and Daniel use in reference 
to the destruction of that city. And 
Jerusalem (says Christ) " shall be 
trodden down of the Gentiles until the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." 
Luke 21 : 24 ; Dan. 9 : 24.* 

Forty and two months. Three 
years and a half; precisely the time 
the Jewish war lasted. It began in 
the year of our Lord 66, and ended 
A. D. 70. Six months after this 
time the army lay still on account 
of the death of the emperor Nero, 
A. D. 69. Daniel's time, times, and 
half a time, mean precisely the same. 
A time one year, times two years, 
half a time six months. The Chal- 
dees reckoned time by the annual re- 
volution of the heavenly bodies round 
the earth. 

And seven times shall pass over 
him. That is seven years. Daniel 
4 : 16. 

For a time, times, and half a time. 



Daniel's 1260 days are not prophetic, 
nor can they be understood as such ; 
for Gabriel is pointing out to him the 
precise time when the city and tem- 
ple should be destroyed, and the daily 
sacrifice taken away; and he assures 
Daniel that it should be just three 
years and a half from the time the 
abomination of desolation was set up ; 
or the Roman army pitch their tents, 
plant their standard in Judea. Luke, 
21 : 20. The event itself justi- 
fies the prediction ; for it was exactly 
three years and six months from the 
time Vespasian pitched his tent in 
Judea, until the Jews were subdued 
and the war ended. See Josephus. 
Again, when the prophets intend a 
day for a year, they always name it. 
See Ez. 4 : 6. But we would in- 
quire here, if Elijah's three years and 
a half mean 1260 years? Oh, you 
will say no. Wei], then, we must 
admit John's forty and two months to 
mean precisely the same time ; for he 
was to prophecy three years and a 
half, clothed in sackcloth, and during 
this time the two witnesses had pow- 
er Jike Elijah, to shut heaven, that it 
should not rain on the earth. The 
two witnesses began their mission to 
the Jews A. D. 66, and ended it in 
three years and six months ; then Je~ 



* Some have thought the city must mean the church of Christ, but this is impossible, 
for the temple of God in the first verse has reference to the church of Christ, and the holy 
tcity in this verse is distinct from the former ; and as the treading under foot has reference 
to the utter desolation of it, it necessarily follows, if this be true, that the church of Christ 
will be utterly destroyed by her enemies hereafter. See Is. 48 : 2. 



REVELATIOX. 



137 



3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and 



rusalem was besieged by the Roman 
army. So that John roust have been 
recalled from the Island of Patmos 
before that period. See chapt. 12 : 
16.* 

3 My two witnesses. Two of my 
chosen witnesses, apostles, because 
they have been with me from the be- 
ginning of my ministry, and they 
have had to bear personal and public 
testimony to the world, of my mira- 
cles, death, sufferings, resurrection 
and ascension to glory. The fact is, 
they were eye and ear witnesses of 
all that they have written and pub- 
lished to the world in their gospels 
and epistles. The title icitness, is 
confined exclusively to our Lord's 
twelve apostles. He commanded them 
" to preach repentance and remission 
of sins, in his name, among all na- 
tions, beginning at Jerusalem. And 
ye are (says he) my witnesses of these 
things." Luke, 24:48. See Acts, 
1 : 8. The case is still more clear 
from Acts, 1 ; 22, where one who had 
been an eye-witness of his ministry 
and miracles was chosen (no other 
would do) to supply the place of Ju- 
das who fell by transgression. 1, The 
two witnesses, then, were men and 
preachers of the gospel. 2. They 
were prophets, they prophecied. See 
below. 3. They had souls and bo- 
dies, were murdered, put to death, 



and rose again from the dead, and as- 
cended into heaven, in the presence 
of hundreds of men, women and chil- 
dren. See v. 9. 11. 4. They had 
power to work miracles, v. 6. 5. They 
are called the two olive branches, 
Joshua and Zerubbabel. Zech. ch. 4. 
From these facts, therefore, it is evi- 
dent they must be men and ministers, 
and not things, such as the Old and 
New Testaments. And again, the 
New Testament was not completed 
until after the Revelation was finish- 
ed ; the epistles and letters of the 
apostles were not collected for years 
after this. Therefore the Old and 
New Testaments are not the two 
witnesses ; as personal actions and 
properties are ascribed to each of 
them, that is, as men, and not things. 
St. Paul applies this title to the 
twelve apostles, and does not include 
himself. As he did not consider him- 
self a competent witness. Acts, 13 : 11. 
He was a witness of his resurrection, 
but not of his death and sufferings. 
He saw the Savior in glory, but did 
not see him die on the cross. John, 
no doubt, was one of these witnesses. 
He is the person who took the little 
book out of the angel's hand. He 
ate it, and it made him feel bitter. 
And the angel said unto him, thou 
(John) must prophecy again. Chap. 
10 : 9-11. And he was commanded 



* And never was the providence of God more clearly manifest than at this time, in 
behalf of his church; for Vespasian was on his way to destroy Jerusalem, after he had 
subdued the Jews in every other part, and hearing of the death of Nero,, his designs were 
frustrated, and the christians had an opportunity to make their escape from Jerusalem, 
which they could not have' done if the Roman army had marched directly on to the city. 

IS 



13$ XOTES OX THE ' 

they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three - 
score days, clothed in sackcloth, 



to measure the temple, was one of 
the two witnesses who prophesied' 
twelve hundred and sixty days. Peter 
may have been the other,, as he was 
living at this time. The idea of his 
suffering martyrdom at Rome is ridi- 
culous. He was the apostle of the 
Jews in Judea, and not the apostle of 
the Gen tiles as was Paul. Peter ne- 
ver had his foot in Rome, but no 
doubt he was put to death in Jerusa- 
lem ; for a prophet, as our Lord ob- 
serves, cannot perish out of it. These 
two blessed men must each of them, 
at this time, have been 70 or 75 years 



of age ; that is, allowing they entered 
the ministry when thirty or thirty- 
five, the time fixed by the law of 
Moses. Lactantis mentions two apos- 
tles, Paul and Peter, who were put 
to death in the siege of Jerusalem, 
and when dying for the name of 
Jesus, predicted the downfall and 
utter destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Roman army ; but he no doubt mis- 
took Paul for John. Paul evidently 
was condemned to death by Nero at 
Rome. See 2 Tim. 4 : 6, 7. See 
Lactantis Divine Institutes, Lib. 4 r 
chap. 21.* 



* There are so many and various opinions in the world respecting who these two wit- 
nesses are, that there are scarcely any two who agree in their opinion on this point. Some 
have not scrupled to say that the Old and New Testaments are the two witnesses. But 
this is impossible, for how could it be said that the Old and New Testaments were killed - 
and their dead bodies lay in the streets of the great city, &c. for three days and a half, 
and that after this their souls returned to their bodies, and then they stood on their feet, and 
ascended to heaven in the sight of their enemies. We know the gospel is to abide for ever 7 
without any change ; but these two witnesses were killed, and did not abide for ever ; and 
we know that the moral law is as binding on us as on the Jews, and that by it, as well a& 
the gospel, we shall be judged ; and consequently it must abide, without change, until 
the day of judgment. Neither could the two: witnesses mean a general succession of 
gospel ministers : for they were two distinct beings, who had personal actions and proper- 
ties ascribed to each of them-, applicable to themselves alone. And how could two be a 
representation of, perhaps, one million % I believe that St. John himself was one of these 
witnesses, and one of the four beasts spoken of in chapter 4 ; 6 the other ; for we have 
no proof that he survived the destruction of Jerusalem, but mere conjecture. On the 
other hand, it is clear, from this chapter, that he was killed before that period. But every 
reasonable man must allow that the person to whom Gabriel gave the little book, and who 
was appointed to measure the temple of God, is one of these witnesses; this no person- 
can deny; and certainly St. John himself was the very identical person who took the 
book out of Gabriel's hand, and that was called upon to measure the temple. Chapter 
10 : 10, and the first verse of this chapter. And would it not be improper for St.. Jobs. 



REVELATION. 



139 



4 These are the two olive-trees, and the two candle- 
sticks standing before the God of the earth. 



They shall prophecy. Preacli Christ 
and hira crucified ence more to the 
unbelieving Jews. Even at the ele- 
venth hour they may repent and ob- 
tain mercy. See Acts-, 1 : 6, 7. But 
it means also to predict their final de- 
struction* It is evident enough that 
the prophet Ezekiel, chap. 3 : 1,2, 3, 
is here predicting events which should 
take place in Messiah's day. Chap. 5 : 
10, 11, 12, puts this beyond doubt. It 
then follows that his prophecy is 
now on the eve of fulfilment, and that 
it referred to the house of Israel, and 
that the witnesses were Jews, and not 
Gentiles.* 



A thousand two hundred and sixty, 
days-. That is three years and a half, 
ordinary Jewish years ; for surely a 
prophet cannot live 1260 years, and 
be still prophecying in the holy city 
of Jerusalem, Such an idea as this 
is ridiculous.f 

In sackcloth. That is a rough 
hairy garment. This was worn by 
Jewish prophets, and not by Gentile 
priests. It was a token of deep 
mourning and humility. Lam. 2:10, 
Ez. 7 : 18, Zech. 13 : 4, Dan. 9 : 3. 

4 The two olive trees. Spoken of 
by Zechariah, chap. 4 : 3. The two 
anointed Cherubs from which the 



lo call any two individuals our Savior's witnesses, when, at the same time, they never bad 
been eye-witnesses of any of his transactions on earth ? But Peter told the Jews that St. 
John and himself were eye-witnesses of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. See 
Acts, 3 : 15. 

* This proves to a demonstration that St. John was one of the witnesses, for the angel 
told him that he should have to prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and 
tongues, and kings. Verse 11 of the former chapter. He was to foretell the Jews the 
miseries which were now coming upon their city and nation, and also to measure the 
temple of God. That John was a prophet, as well as an apostle and an evangelist, is 
evident from many memorable events which he foretold should come to pass, and which 
were afterwards literally and wonderfully fulfilled. One was the tremendous and bloody 
sea fight which took place between the Jews and Romans on the sea of Gennesaret. 
Another remarkable prophecy is contained in chapter 9 : 5, 6 ; and the third was that of 
the murder of the two witnesses, the time of their prophecy, and the number of days their 
dead bodies should lie in the streets of the great city, &c. And another one is contained 
in chapter 11:13; also one in chapter 13 : 3, 5, and a very remarkable one in verse 16 ; 
also one in chapter 16 : 16, and another in verse 19, that was literally fulfilled. But the 
most remarkable of all was that of the thousand years, and the things which took place 
at the expiration of it. And we know that he had no foundation for these prophecies in 
the scripture ; and though there are a great many quotations in this book from the Old 
Testament prophecies, yet he has not quoted any of these prophecies from there. 

f From what period could we date the twelve hundred and sixty days but from the 



140 



NOTES ON THE 



5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out 
of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies : and if any 
man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 

6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in 
the days of their prophecy : and have power over wa- 



pure oil (holy unction) was pressed 
into the tubes of the seven golden 
candlesticks, which produced such 
brilliant and glorious light in the Se- 
ven Churches of Asia.* 

And the two candlesticks. From 
which Christ the good olive tree 
pours in the pure oil and wine of the 
kingdom ; that is, into the believer's 
heart. 

Standing before. To minister in 
holy things, as the priests did at the 
altar. These were the genuine priests 
with Urim and Thummim, and were 
clothed with holy garments, and full 
of light, life, liberty, and love. 

5 Hurt them. Attempt to kill, de- 
stroy, or hurt their influence as min- 
isters of Jesus. 

Fire proceedeth out of their mouth. 



The flaming sword of God's word 
shall consume them and cut them 
down, as persecutors of the innocent 
Christians. This is a Rabbinical mode 
of expression, to show that if their 
doctrines were rejected, they would 
prove " a savor of death unto death." 
See chapter 9-17, Num. 16 : 2, 2 
Kings, 1: lO.f 

He must in this manner be killed. 
Destroyed by fire, sword and famine, 
given to the burning flame ; for with 
fire and sword God shall plead with 
all flesh. 

6 These have power to shut heaven, 
By faith and prayer, as did Elijah* 
Here, then, are the spiritual Elijahs, 
whose God answers by fire. But our 
Lord gave them greater power than 
this ; power to heal the sick, cleanse 



time when the Revelation was written, or else immediately after ? So that the conclusion 
therefore is, that when Gabriel declared that time should be no longer, he meant with the 
Jews, and. not with the Gentiles. 

* St. John was the person prophesied of under the name of Zembbabel ; and the other 
apostle the person prophesied of under the name Joshua. St. John was one of the apos- 
tles that helped our Lord to lay the foundation of the temple, and he was the person our 
Lord had now appointed to measure it, to know whether they could comprehend, with all 
saints, the length and breadth, depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fulness of God. 

t This is a figurative mode of expression, to show that the wrath of God should con- 
sume their persecutors. It is a blessed thing to suffer for righteousness sake, and to bear 
it patiently, to commit the keeping of our soul to God, as unto a faithful Creator ; " vea- 
geance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay " 



REVELATION. 



141 



ters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all 
plagues, as often as they will. 

7 And when they shall have finished their testimony. 



the lepers, cast out devils, and raise 
the dead to life. 

In the days of their jprophecying. 
That is ,during the twelve hundred and 
sixty days, or three and a half years, 
the precise time of Elijah's prophe- 
cying, and of the great drought in 
Judea. See James, 5 : 17.* 

And have power over water. Over 
the rivers and the lakes. 

To turn them to blood. To tinge 
them with the blood of the slain. But 
this could not take place until the lime 
of their prophecyingwas ended ; then 
the angel of the pit of destruction 
was to be let loose, f 

And to smite the earth. Spiritual 
Egypt, where our Lord was crucified, 
and also the seat of the beast. 

With all plagues. That is, the 
seven plagues of Egypt, which were 
formerly sent for the deliverance of 
the Jews from Egyptian bondage, but 
are now sent to punish them for their 
wickedness, and to be the means of 



sending them back again to Egypt as 
slaves for life. See Exodus, 7:19. 
The plagues of the East are the ter- 
ror of the people to this day. 

7 And when they shall have finish- 
ed their testimony. That is, finally 
finished it, viz. preached Christ and 
him crucified, which was a stumbling 
block to the Jews and foolishness to 
the Greeks, but Christ the power of 
God and wisdom of God to all them 
who believe. "When John's last mis- 
sion was ended, then their destruction 
was sealed, and the day of their mer- 
ciful visitation for ever gone. 

The beast. To identify this beast 
is to identify all the others, because 
he was cotemporary with the dragon, 
false prophet, and the beast that rose 
up out of the earth. Chap. 13 : 11. 
He is said by some authors to be the 
Pope, by others to be Mahomed, and 
by some to be the Roman Empire, 
and by a late writer to be Napoleon 
Bonaparte ; but, in my opinion, not 



* Elijah prayed to God that it might not rain on the earth for three years and a half, 
and the Lord answered the prophet's prayer. See 1 Kings, 17 : 1 ; also James, 5 : 17. 
And from this we may learn that St. John, by the days of their prophecy, meant three 
years and a half; for this was the space of time that Elijah prophecied. And if we in- 
terpret the twelve hundred and sixty days to mean twelve hundred and sixty years, we 
must also interpret Elijah's three years and six months to signify the same time. But we 
have no authority whatever from this book nor the word of God to interpret them pro- 
phetically. 

t Moses and Aaron had the same power. See Exod. 7:19. But these two apostles 
had greater power than this. See Matt. 10 : 8, 



142 



NOTES ON THE 



the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall 



one of them is the identical person in- 
tended by either John or Daniel. 

1. It cannot refer to the Roman 
Empire* because the beast is called a 
man, a king, an emperor, or a person 
superior to a king. See chap. 13 : 1, 
v. 18. 

2. This king was to destroy the 
mighty and holy people, to cast down 
the Jewish sanctuary, and cause the 
daily sacrifice to cease for ever. And 
the captives taken in the siege of the 
city he was to carry back into Egypt, 
and there to sell them for bond-men 
and bond-women. Has the Pope or 
either of the persons alluded to, ever 
done this ? W e say, no. This took 
place in the year of our Lord 70, 
under Nero, and by Vespasian, the 
Roman Emperor. 

3. He had seven heads and ten 
horns, and is called one of these heads 
himself. Chap. 13 : 1. John asserts 
that these were crowned heads ; they 
were crowned such literally by the se- 
nate. Chap. 12 : 3. And the ten 
horns to be ten kings or governors 
prospectively. They all belonged to 
the one empire, and were under the 
dominion of the dragon, and after this 
became identified with the kingdom 
of the beast, which proves that the 
empire was transferred to this very 
beast. We ask then, how this can 
be applied to the Pope, Mahomed 
or Bonaparte. Surely it cannot be. 
For all were Caesar's who " would ne- 
ver admit an equal." Not one of 
them, at any time, had seven empe- 
rors and seven kings associated with 
them in the government. 

4. Five of these heads had fallen 



by death, and one of them still sur- 
vived, was then alive, and is the sixth 
head, and is also called the seventh 
and eighth head, which is very re- 
markable indeed, and will apply to no 
individual under heaven but the Em- 
peror Nero. (Chap. 17 : 10.) Galba 
was declared emperor while Nero 
was yet alive, a thing which never 
took place before in the empire. And 
Pompey was the other head of the 
nation; so that he was the sixth and 
eighth head of the empire. But the 
eighth head may refer to Vespasian 
himself. 

5. Three kings were to be subdued 
in his time, or plucked up by the 
roots, to prepare the way for this 
beast to come to the empire. These 
were Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who 
were all declared emperors, and were 
subdued and dethroned in less than 
one year, and Vespasian declared 
emperor by the legions under his com- 
mand. This was another very re- 
markable event, which went to fulfil 
the prophecies of Daniel. 

6. Daniel calls him a king of fierce 
countenance, bold, undaunted, fero- 
cious. Dan. 8 : 23. This was pre- 
cisely the character of Vespasian. 
See chap. 13 : 14. 

7. He is designated the King of the 
North. The Jews invariably called 
the Romans the northern nation. 
Dan. 8:11, Jer. 6 : 1. See under the 
last section of this note. 

8. He was to wage war with the 
king of the south. That is, the gene- 
ral of the Jewish army in Judea, which 
lay south of Rome. The Jews were 
the descendants of Shem, and settled 



REVELATION. 



143 



make war against them, and shall overcome them, and 
kill them, 



in that country. Genesis, 10 : 21. 

9. He was to march at the head of 
the army himself and to conduct the 
war in person, and not by proxy. 
The Pope never has been from the 
See of Rome, nor never headed an 
army in person. 

10. He was to be wounded literally 
in battle, and to recover of his wound, 
which was the case with Vespasian 
in the siege of Jotapata. The Pope 
nor Mahomed never were wounded in 
battle. 

11. In this war he was to subdue 
the mighty and the holy people, that 
is the Jews, beyond doubt. No other 
nation was ever distinguished as such. 

1 2. The number of his name 666, 
can never be traced out in the names 
of any of the three persons alluded to. 

13. Daniel calls him a heathen 
beast S^'TCl hat ue tha, a lawless 
wild beast, because not governed by 
Divine law. The Pope, Mohamed 
and Bonaparte all believed in the Di- 
vine law, and professed to be govern- 
ed by it. 

14. The Rabbins called Herod a fox, 
Vespasian a lawless beast, and Nero 
a devil. Hence, "all ye wild beasts 
of the field, (Roman empire,) and all 
ye beasts of the forest, (barbarous na- 
tions,) come ye and devour the dead 
carcasses," i. e. of the Jews. Is. 56 : 9, 

15. Jeremiah calls him " The lion 
of the forest," the destroyer of the 
Gentiles, or he that made the world 
desolate, and was to desolate Judea, 
and make it like a wilderness. Jer. 
4:7. 



16. Daniel declares, that this beast 
belonged to the fourth kingdom on 
earth. This was the Roman empire 
beyond a doubt, (Dan. 7 : 19,) which 
destroyed the kingdoms of the Medes, 
Persians and Grecians. 

17. To prove that he was heathen, 
he says that "he beheld until the 
beast was destroyed (by death) and his 
body given to the burning pile to be 
consumed to ashes. Chap. 7 : 11. 
The vile and barbarous practice al- 
luded to here, of burning instead of 
burying the dead, continued among 
the Romans until the empire became 
Christian. It then ceased for ever. 
So that the beast could not refer to 
any king or emperor that rose up m 
the empire from that time to the pre- 
sent. See chap. 20 : 10. 

18. This king was to come into 
power when the transgressions had 
come to the full, or the Jews had be- 
come a nation of robbers and murder- 
ers. Dan. 8 : 23. This was the very 
time when he was declared emperor. 

19. His power, though great, was 
restricted by a higher power, viz. that 
of Nero, under whom he acted as ge- 
neral of the army. Dan. 8 : 24. The 
soldiers worshipped the dragon who 
gave his power to the beast. 

20. This king declared war literally 
against Prince Messiah, which none 
of the other three princes have ever 
done. 

21. He was to come into power 
immediately afier the death of the 
Messiah. Dan. 9 : 26. And after 
this to cast down the sanctuary, and 



144 



NOTES ON THE 



cause the daily sacrifice to cease 
for ever. 

22. He was to cast up a mount 
around Jerusalem, and to hem up the 
people on every side, which he and 
no other prince or person ever did be- 
fore or since. 

23. He was an atheist. He ridi- 
culed, despised, contemned, blas- 
phemed God. Dan. 7 : 24. The 
same Word occurs Is. 37 : 6. Surely 
this cannot be charged on any of the 
three persons alluded to. 

24. In his day the saints were to 
take the kingdom from the beast, and 
to possess it for ever and ever. The 
Roman empire became Christian im- 
mediately after the destruction of Je- 
rusalem. It was then that the king- 
doms of this world became in a great 
degree the kingdoms of our Lord and 
of his Christ. This Tertullian asserts 
to be the fact. 

25. The dragon was the sixth suc- 
cessor to the throne of the Roman 
empire, and resigned the empire to 
this beast. How then, we ask, can 
this be applied to Mahomed, who was 
the first and only head of his nation, 
or to Bonaparte, who was the first 
and only emperor of France, and to 
Hildebrand, who was the first prince 
and pope of Rome ; and not only so, 
but one in the succession of popes 
was a woman, and three popes had 
dominion at the same time. 

26. These heads could not be hills, 
for they were crowned heads, and 
could not be the seven hills of Rome; 
because five had fallen and one still 
lived, and the other had not yet come ; 
and when he (not it) did come, was 
to continue but a short time, and then 
to go into hell with the beast and 
the false prophet. Chapter 17 : 10. 



27. Daniel puts the matter beyond 
doubt or dispute, He states that the 
beast should plant his standard or 
pitch his camp on the holy mount, 
(Moriah,) and then declare war against 
the Prince of princes, (Messiah,) and 
at that time Michael (Christ) should 
stand up to defend his people. Dan. 

11 : 45 ; 12 : 1. The time, therefore, 
that the Roman standard was planted 
by him in Judea, is the very time re- 
ferred to, which was in the year of 
our Lord 66. This was the exact 
time that Michael stood up to defend 
his church and people (chap. 12:7) 
against the general persecution of 
Nero. 

28. Finally, Noah had three sons, 
Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Shem 
has three meanings: 1. It signifies a 
name, memorial, because through him 
the name and religion of Jehovah 
should be handed down to posterity. 
Eber was his son, and the father of 
the Hebrews, and from him Abraham 
(the father of the faithful) descended. 
He and his family settled in Canaan, 
a southern country. Gen. 11:31; 

12 : 5. 2d. It means pleasant, happy, 
delightful. Hence Judea, that was set- 
tled by his posterity, was called the 
happy, pleasant, delightful land, and 
sometimes the heavenly land, and the 
city, the heavenly Jerusalem. See 
Dan. 8:9. 3d. The Rabbins say 
that is a contraction of tB£E3 
the sun, because of a brilliant red co- 
lor, and this is the complexion of all 
his posterity to the present. The In- 
dians of America, therefore, must be 
of the posterity of Shem, and of Jew- 
ish origin. 

Ham means black, sun-burnt. His 
sons peopled Egypt and Africa, and 
the latter was named after him, the 



REVELATION. 



145 



land of Ham. Ps. 105:27; Gen. 
10 : 6. The beast, then, was not a 
black man nor a red man, but a white 
man, and therefore a descendant of 
Japheth, which means fair, beautiful. 
His sons, Gomer and Magog, settled 
in the north, that is, in Europe. The 
complexion of the people of that 
country is fair and beautiful to this 
day. This, then, is the country from 
which the beast came, and the peo- 
ple and prince of that country were 
called Gog and Magog. Asia and 
Africa, among the Jews, was called 
the south, Italy and Britain the north, 
Arabia and India the East, the Me- 
diterranean sea and Spain the west. 
This beast was from the north, and 
declared war against the people and 
prince of the south, who worshipped 
the true God ; for he cast down His holy 
temple, and caused the daily sacrifice 



offered to Him, to cease for ever, and 
then destroyed the mighty and holy 
people, viz. the Jews. Therefore, 
Vespasian, the Roman emperor, is the 
identical beast, with the seven heads 
and ten horns. Here, then, are argu- 
ments, clear and incontrovertible, and 
which prove beyond doubt that Je- 
rusalem was not destroyed when this 
book was written.* 

That ascended out of the bottomless 
pit. Out of the Roman army, or 
Rome itself, (Chap. 13 ; 14.) He 
rose gradually, step by step, from the 
ranks of a common soldier to the 
chief command of the army, and final- 
ly to be emperor of Rome. The rea- 
son why Daniel calls him a little (sin- 
gle, mean) horn, is because of the 
meanness of his birth. He was in 
early life a horse doctor, his family 
low and poor; he was not born of 



* 1. Vespasian may be compared to a beast because he had destroyed so many of his 
fellow men. 2. He may be compared to such because ignorant of the true God. 3. St, 
John may have called him a beast because Daniel called him such. 4. He may be 
compared to a beast because of his decided, firm and undaunted disposition. " In the 
taking of the city of Gamaliel a vast number of his soldiers were destroyed by the 
houses falling on them ; and striving to save some of them, he forgot to take care of his 
own preservation, and unguardedly got into the midst of the city, amongst his enemies, 
namely, the Jews, when he had but few of his soldiers to protect him. However, he 
thought it not safe to make hi3 escape from the city, but calling to mind the actions which 
he had done from his youth, and recollecting his former courage, as if he had been excited 
by a demoniacal fury, covered himself and those that were with him with their shields, and 
formed a tustudo (the back of a tortoise) over their bodies and their armor, and bore up 
against their enemies' attack, who came running down from the top of the city ; and with- 
out showing any dread of the multitude of the men or their darts, he endured all until the 
enemy took notice of his great courage, and left off their attack. And when they had 
pressed less zealously upon him, he retired until he had gotten outside of the walls of the 
city." See Josephus, War, book 4, 1 : 5. And as I have before remarked, that the 
Roman army is compared to the bottomless pit, see chap. 9 : 1, so here the destroyer is 
represented as ascending out of this pit, to show that he was still, while among the army, 
ascending higher and higher, till at length he arrived to the throne. So that St. John, as 
well as Josephus, had seen from the prophecies of Daniel that Vespasian should arrive 
to the empire before Jerusalem was destroyed. See Josephus, War, book 4, 10 : 7, 

19 



146 



NOTES ON THE 



8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the 



royal ancestry, but obtained the king- 
dom by flattery, fawning on the sol- 
diers. As a general he stood very 
high indeed in the estimation of his 
soldiers. It was through their influ- 
ence he crept into power, and finally 
succeeded to the throne of the em- 
pire. The Roman army is called 
hell by St. John, in chap. 6 : 8. And 
here the bottomless pit, but more pro- 
perly the pit of destruction, because 
Rome had utterly destroyed all the 
kingdoms on the earth. As there is 
a heaven on earth, there is also a hell 
on earth. See chap. 3:9; the church 
of Christ and the church of the de- 
vil, and Rome is this very hell on 
earth. The Rabbins affirm that 
Mount Vesuvius is the very mouth of 
hell, and this may be John's reason 
for calling Rome the pit of hell. His 
successors, the spiritual beast and the 
false prophet, are still there to this day, 
and will be until God consumes them 
by the brightness of his coming, and 
the glory of his person. The beast has 
changed his name but not his nature ; 
he changeth not. False miracles, 
false worship, false doctrines, false ti- 
tles, the desecration of the Sabbath, 
worship of images, mass for the dead, 
penance, and absolution by the priest, 
transubstantiation, purgatory, perse- 
cution of Protestants, the inquisition, 
discarding the Holy Scriptures, the 
prohibition of civil and religious li- 
berty, — all prove, beyond doubt, that 
papal Rome is more intolerant than 
pagan Rome, and that there is more 
of the slime and filth of sin about the 
papal beast than about the pagan 



beast. But he is reserved in the 
chains of blackness and darkness for 
ever. St. John declares that Rome 
shall yet be destroyed by fire from 
heaven. See chap. 20 : 9. 

Now we affirm that there was civil 
and religious liberty in Rome in the 
time of St. Paul, but it is not so at 
present. If Peter and Paul were to 
go there in disguise, say in the cha- 
racter of Wesleyan Missionaries, to 
preach Christ and him crucified, they 
would both be thrust (without judge 
or jury) into the inner prison, and 
their feet be made fast in the stocks ; 
and finally they would be banished, 
if not crucified and put to death. Is 
not this, therefore, the height of in- 
tolerance? And why does Christen- 
dom suffer such despotism on the one 
hand, while they have almost crushed 
it on the other. See Rom. 1 : 15. 

Shall make war against them, as 
well as the other Jews. He had or- 
ders from Nero to include the Chris- 
tians in the war as well as the Jews. 
Here, then, is the Edict itself, to Ne- 
ro Claudius Caesar Augustus, Chief 
Pontiff, for purging the province of 
robbers (the Jews) and of Christians, 
who inculcate a new superstition to 
the human race. Lardner 7. p. 248. 

And Mil them. That is in the 
siege of Jerusalem. 

8 And their dead bodies shall lie 
in the streets of the great city. That 
is, three days and a half they were 
to lie there without burial. The Ro- 
mans killed them, the Jews despised 
them, and refused them burial. It is 
called the great city, because the city 



REVELATION. 



great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, 
where also our Lord was crucified. 

9 And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues 



of the great King; but it was very 
large also. A million of persons could 
be accommodated there during the 
feast of the Passover. 

Spiritually called Sodoin and 
Egypt. By the Prophet Isaiah, 
1 :10; also by Joel, chap. 3 : 19. 
Sodom, because of its corruption. It 
was famous for bigamy, adultery, 
whoredom, murder and robbery ; ex- 
ceeding Sodom in these respects. See 
Jer. 5:1. Egypt, because of oppres- 
sion, and as the mother country from 
whence she came. The children had 
become more vile, wicked and cor- 
rupt, in the sight of God and man, 
than the parent. She protested against 
the slavery and oppression, idolatry, 
persecutions and murders of Egypt ; 
and the very things which she con- 
demned in another she allowed in 
herself. And as a just retaliation for 
her departure from God, she was pun- 



ished with the seven plagues of Egypt, 
and her children were sent thither as 
slaves for life. See Ez. 22 : 29 ; 
23 : 7, 8> 

Where our Lord was crucified. 
"Where was he crucified — in Asia, 
Africa, Europe, or America? We 
answer, in Asia. In what city ? Je- 
rusalem. When ? In the reign of 
Pontius Pilate* the Governor of Ju- 
dea. Therefore the city of Jerusa- 
lem is the very city, and of course 
was not destroyed, nor were the two 
witnesses killed, when this book was 
written by John in the Isle of Pat- 
mos ; and it follows that John was ba- 
nished there by Nero, and not by 
Domitian, and Jeremiah calls Jerusa- 
lem the daughter of Egypt. Jeremiah j, 
46 :24. 

9. The people. Of the city of Je- 
rusalem, f 

And kindreds. Their brethren from 



* Josephus says, that had the Romans made any longer delay in coming against the 
Jews, the city, he supposed, would have been swallowed up by the ground opening upon 
them, or been overflowed by water, or else destroyed by such thunder as the country of 
Sodom perished by ; for it had brought forth a generation of men more atheistical than 
were those that suffered such punishments. See Josephus, War, book 5, 13 : 6. See Jer, 
23: 14; Is. 1:10; Ez. 16:46, 47. 

t It certainly must have been here the two witnesses were killed, and in the streets of 
this city that the bodies of these two men had lain for three days and a half. And if de- 
stroyed by the Romans, and the streets of it ploughed up like a field, and the city never 
has been rebuilt in the same place as yet, nor called by the same name, it necessarily fol- 
lows that this book was written and the two witnesses killed before Jerusalem was de- 
stroyed by the Romans. 



14S 



NOTES ON THE 



and nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and a 
half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in 
graves. 

10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice 



every part of the world, who had at 
that time come up to the city to cele- 
brate the j'early passover. 

And tongues. Foreigners, prose- 
lytes of different countries, or nations. 

And nations. Persons of every 
nation, who came there to trade in the 
season of business. 

Shall see their dead bodies. Literal- 
ly the murdered martyrs of Jesus, the 
last two, the best two, and the holiest 
men that ever perished in Jerusalem. 
It could not be that a prophet should 
perish out of that vile city ; but the 
measure of her iniquity was now full, 
the carcass dead and ready to be 
devoured by the wild bore of Rome. 
Christ intimated to both Peter and 
John, that they should live to see Je- 
rusalem destroyed, but no longer ; and 
they finally died as witnesses for him 
there ; they sealed the truths of the 
Gospel with their own blood. Blessed 
men of God ! we hope soon to meet 
you in glory. Reader, prepare to 
meet thy God; death is at the door; 
God is holy, Heaven is holy, and if 
thou art unholy thou art not fit to 
enter there. See Luke, 9 : 27 ; John, 
21 : 22. 

Three days and a half. They 



shall be exposed there during that 
time by way of ridicule ; but remem- 
ber that, in three years and a half 
from this time your dead and putrid 
bodies shall be thrown outside the 
walls of Jerusalem, without burial, 
and given to the beasts of the earth 
and the fowls of heaven to be de- 
voured. 

And not suffer them to be buried. 
The Gentiles murdered them, and the 
Jews refused to bury them, because 
Christians. But a just and merciful 
God retaliated and denied them burial 
with their fathers, a matter of great 
moment with them. See Is. 14 : 20 ; 
Jer. 16:4.* 

10 They that dwell on the earth. 
Jews and Gentiles ; for they were hat- 
ed of all men for Christ's sake, and 
" whosoever killeth you (says Jesus,) 
for my name's sake, will think that he 
doeth God service." 

Shall rejoice. Over you, but will 
soon weep and mourn over themselves, 
because of the miseries that are com- 
ing upon the world. See how de- 
lighted Herod's daughter was when 
the head of the murdered Baptist was 
presented to her in a charger. John lost 
his life because he protested against 



* Viz. at the lawful time of burying the dead, namely, before sun-down. This was 
done because of the hatred the Jews bore to these two apostles of Christ; and we know 
that the vast number of people spoken of here must mean Jews, for the Romans always 
burnt their dead instead of burying them. See chap. 2 : 10, 



REVELATION. 



149 



over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to 
another ; because these two prophets tormented them that 
dwelt on the earth. 

11 And after three days and a half the Spirit of life 
from God entered into them, and they stood upon their 
feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 

12 And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying 



her mother's adultery ; and these vile 
men rejoiced over the dead bodies of 
these two holy men of God because 
they openly and fearlessly rebuked 
them for their murders, robberies, 

11. And the spirit of life from God 
re-entered. Soul and body, after a se- 
paration of three days and a half, 
were re-united, and like their Master 
ascended to glory, to be with Jesus 
for ever. The Rabbins say that the 
spirit of life is only in the Holy Land. 

And great fear fell on them that saw 
them.j Innocence has nothing to 
fear ; guilt, every thing to fear — mur- 
der will out. It is the fire of hell 
shut up in the human heart, and 
sooner or later the flame will burst 
out on every side. He that confesses 
his guilt shall obtain mercy; he that 



conceals it shall die without mercy : 
for the mouth of the Lord hath spo- 
ken it. The thief on the cross open- 
ly confessed his guilt, and acknow- 
ledged the innocence of Jesus. He 
repented, believed, obtained mercy 
and died happy, and went to heaven. 
Go thou and do likewise, and you too 
shall be saved. If you plead inno- 
cence before the court when guilty, 
your condemnation will be the greater. 
Confess your guilt openly, honestly, 
and candidly, and God and man will 
pity you. You may, poor creature, 
have been led astray in an unguarded 
moment, and sent a poor soul into 
eternity, unprepared. This crime you 
never can atone for; it is a heinous 
one, but God has promised you par- 
don if you repent of your sins. 
12 A voice from heaven. From 



* Perhaps they rejoiced over them by feasting and dancing. What a blindfolded crea- 
ture man is when left to himself! These men rejoiced to see these two holy apostles 
killed, who were their best friends, and who had lost their lives in striving to save them 
from the torments of hell. 

t This was evidently the power of God, which had raised these men to life again, and 
it must have excited both terror and astonishment in their minds to think that the two 
dead men they had been rejoicing over a little while ago had now come to life again, 
Compare Luke, 9 : 7 with this verse, and you will find that the people were greatly afraid 
of ghosts, and more especially if they had committed murder themselves, or even had 
been the cause of such. 



150 



NOTES ON THE 



unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to 
heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld them. 

13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, 
and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake 
were slain of men seven thousand : and the remnant were 
affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 

14 The second wo is past ; and behold, the third wo 
cometh quickly. 



Jesus, his Lord and Master, whom 
he had not seen in the flesh for forty 
years. He now calls him home to 
mansions of glory, to live with him 
for ever. What a happy, glorious, 
triumphant meeting ! The loving 
Master, the obedient and humble ser- 
vant, now meet to part no more for 
ever. John considered it an honor to 
die for Jesus ; and We consider a very 
ligh affliction, say the- loss, perhaps, 
of a child, a little property, or some 
friend, a great trial. We cannot bear 
it. It may be too great a trial for 
human nature to sustain, but it is not 
too great for grace to sustain. My 
grace, says Jesus, is sufficient for 
thee ; in the midst of thy weakness 
my grace is made perfect strength. 
But martyrdom would be a still great- 
er trial. 

And they ascended up to heaven. 
The two witnesses, not the Old and 
New Testaments; they will not as- 
cend there until the general judgment. 
It was the souls and bodies of these 
two holy apostles that went there. 



13 The same hour. This may 
mean the same month or year. 

A great earthquake. It may mean 
a great shaking, trembling of the 
Jews, or it may mean the shock of 
an earthquake literally, as there were 
earthquakes in divers places at this 
very period ; and at or about this 
time several thousands perished either 
by the earthquake or the Roman 
army. 

And the remnant were terrified, and 
glorified God. They praised and 
adored him, because he did not cut 
them off also. But they soon forgot 
his goodness, "forsook God who made 
them, and lightly esteemed the rock 
of their salvation. They provoked 
him to jealousy with strange gods. 
They sacrificed unto devils, not to 
God, but to new gods whom their fa- 
thers feared not. And when the Lord 
saw it he abhorred them, and gave 
them over into the hands of their ene- 
mies." See Deut. 32 : 16.* 

14 The second wo is past. The 
tenth part of the city is destroyed, 



* It was not long after this until they were consumed by fire and famine. How many 
persons give glory to the God of heaven becauge he has saved them from the jaws of 



REVELATION. 



151 



15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were 
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this 
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his 
Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before 
God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped 
God, 

17 Saying, We give thee thanks, Lord God Almigh- 
ty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou 
hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 

18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, 
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and 
that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the pro- 



And when the third wo comes, then 
it will be destroyed and ploughed up 
like a field. The tenth part means a 
greater part of it.* 

15 The seventh angel sounded. One 
of the ministers of the seven churches 
of Asia. They sounded the joyful 
news that the kingdoms of this world 
had now, when he was living, become 
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
Christ, and he shall reign over all 
nations for ever and ever. Amen, and 
Amen. The moment the one fell the 
other rose into a mighty empire. The 
fall of Jerusalem was the enriching of 
the Gentile world, and the cause of 
Christianity spreading into every part 
of it. 



16 The four and twenty elders. See 
chap. 4 : 4, 8. 

17 Thou hast exerted thy great 
power. Conquered the whole world, 
Jews and Gentiles, without drawing 
a sword or using any carnal weapon. 

13 The nations were angry. En- 
raged against the Lord and against his 
anointed. Ps. 2 : 2. They cast his 
cords, his commandments, awav from 
them, and declared they would not 
have this man to reign over them. 
But " I will laugh (says he) at their 
calamity, and mock when their fear 
cometh." He compelled them to sub- 
mit, and gave them into the hands of 
their enemies. 

And the time to judge the dead has 



death ? But it is not from a sense of his pardoning love, but because he has spared them 
a little longer to satisfy their earthly desires, and take some more pleasure to themselves. 

* Let us remember St. John as yet is only describing to the church the things that he 
saw in the vision, and we need not look for a fulfilment of them until we come to the 16th 
chapter. 



152 



NOTES ON THE 



phets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, 
small and great ; and shouldest destroy them which de- 
stroy the earth. 

19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and 
there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament : and 
there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and 
an earthquake, and great hail. 



come. Daniel's seventy years are 
now up, that is,since Messiah's birth; 
the city and temple will nowbe de- 
stroyed, and the Jews judged ac- 
cording to the deeds done in the body. 
They are now ripe for destruction, 
dead in trespasses and in sins ; and it 
would be injustice to the church and 
the world to continue them as a nation 
any longer. 

Should destroy them that destroy 
the earth. She corrupted the whole 
world by her fornication and wicked- 
ness, and persecuted and destroyed 
the church of Christ, and was con- 
trary to all men. 

19 The temple of God was opened. 
Accessible to all. Its doors were 
thrown wide open, to admit the whole 
human race by repentance and faith. 
The moment the old temple was de- 
stroyed the new one was opened 
for all nations to enter in and be 
saved. 



For Ark, see chap. 2 : 1, and note 
below.* 

There was lightnings. Flashes of 
fire from the engines, and from the 
flames of the houses which were on 
fire. 

And voices. Shouts of victory and 
of rejoicing over a conquered enemy. 

An earthquake. As had been fore- 
told by our Lord. The earthquakes 
may mean the terror, dread, trembling 
of the people because of the misery 
which was coming on them and their 
nation, f 

And great hail. Showers of darts 
and stones which were thrown in on 
them by the engines of the Roman 
army. They had raised embank- 
ments for the engines sixty feet high. 
See chap. 16 : 214 She was stoned 
to death, as the law directs, because 
she had played the harlot with many 
lovers, and became a backslider in 
heart and life. Ez. 16:40, 41. 



' * The gospel contains not only the death of the testator, namely, Christ, but also a law 
for the rule of our life and conduct. This ark was deposited in the tabernacle, namely, 
in the hands of the holy apostles. See Mark, 16 ! 15 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 12. 

t It may mean a mighty shaking of the empire of Satan; his kingdom, after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, fell like lightning from heaven. 

% This may mean a great ingathering of souls to the church ; or perhaps it refers to 
great showers of darts and stones which the engines of the Koman army threw into 
Jerusalem. 



REVELATION* 



153 



C HAP TER XII. 



A ND there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a wo- 
man clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, 
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars : 



1 A wonder. A marvellous/myste- 
rious thing. 

In heaven. The heaven on earth, 
the spiritual paradise of God, the 
abode of the happy, pious, blessed. 

A woman. The church of Christ, 
the mother and mistress of the world. 
Hence, h&WV? yn* Zion, the mo- 
ther of us all. Tar. on Cant. 8 : 5. She 
is called such by St. Paul. Gal. 4 : 
26. She is compared to a woman be- 
cause always travailing in birth for 
the salvation of a perishing world, 
and is in pain to be delivered, and 
bring forth a nation in a day. Is. 65 : 
8, 9. Two great nations, Jew and 
Gentile (Jacob and Esau) were in her 
womb at this time : the latter lost his 
birth-right by unbelief, the other seiz- 
ed it by faith in the promised Messiah. 
The Gentiles gladly received the gos- 
gel, which the others rejected, and 
have now become heirs to the spiri- 
tual inheritance. God grant that they 
may walk worthy of their high voca- 
tion. 

Clothed with the sun. The glory of 
God, or the glorious Sun of Righte- 
ousness ; he had now risen upon her 



and the world with healing in his 
wings. 

The moon under her feet. The gos- 
pel, which is a light to her feet, and 
lamp to her path, to guide her in the 
way of peace. The world was also 
under her feet ; she had dominion over 
it. Ps. 119 : 105; Matt. 4 : 16; 2 
Cor. 4 : 4, 6. 

A crown of twelve stars. The twelve 
apostles, (chap. 1 : 16,) who were 
shining and burning lights in a be- 
nighted land. They were the master- 
builders of the new and spiritual tem- 
ple, made without hands. The whole 
of these figures are borrowed from 
Gen. 37 : 10. Joseph dreamed that the 
sun, moon and eleven stars bowed 
down' to him. The sun meant his 
father, the head of the Jewish church ; 
and the moon, his mother, an emblem 
of the church ; the eleven stars, his 
eleven brethren, the patriarchs of the 
Jewish church. These no doubt re- 
presented the twelve apostles. Jo- 
seph was sold by one of his brethren 
for a slave. Judas sold Jesus for thir- 
ty pieces of silver, and he was cruci- 
fied in spiritual Egypt ; but after this, 



154 



NOTES ON THE 



2 And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, 
and pained to be delivered. 

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven ; and 



like Joseph, was exalted to be a prince 
and a Savior, to give repentance and 
remission of sins unto Israel. Acts, 
5 : 30. Christ is the head and hus- 
band of this holy woman, and all his 
children are the very image of the fa- 
ther, and are named after him, that is 
Oiristiaus, because Christ-like. 

2 Being with child. Of both Jew 
and Gentile, (Jacob and Esau.) Esau 
sold his birth-right ; Jacob by faith 
and prayer inherited it, and has been 
in possession of it nearly two thousand 
years. But Esau, at the end of the 
appointed time, may regain it by faith. 
Unbelief in the Messiah cut him off, 
but he is still beloved for the father's 
sake. God grant that he may yet 
repent, believe, and obtain mercy. 
" Seeing (says Paul) ye count your- 
selves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we 
turn to the Gentiles." Acts, 13 : 46 ; 
Jer. 49 : 10 ; Is. 26 : 17, 18; Lam. 
4 : 22.* 

In pain tohe delivered. Of the dead 
persecuting child. As soon as she was 
delivered of this child she brought 
forth a nation in a day. See Gen. 
25 :22 ; Is. 26 : 18. 

3 A great red dragon. The em- 
peror Nero, the very monster of man- 
kind, a wholesale murderer, a beast, 



a brute in human shape. He killed 
his own mother, his brother, and his 
wife, and finally, when abandoned by 
God and man, he killed himself. He 
waged war with and put to death 
the innocent and the guilty, the saint 
and sinner. A more vile, wicked, and 
barbarous man never lived. Hence, 

Nero, Orestes, and Alemeean dew 
Their mothers : Nero the most vile of the 
crew. Seutonius. 

The character given here of the dra- 
gon can never be interpreted of any 
other person but him, because among 
the Rabbins a least means a general, 
a great warrior ; a little horn, a prince ; 
a horn, a king ; a dragon, an emperor. 
The Rabbins interpret it by 
"^3 mal-kai goi, kings ofthe Gentiles, 
the beasts of the field. Jer. 3 : 12 is 
rendered by the Targum the same. 
The dragon is identified here : ] . By 
his insignia scarlet. 2. By his cha- 
racter and disposition, savage, cruel, 
blood-thirsty; v. 4. 3. By being the 
sixth and seventh emperor of Rome ; 
v. 3. 4. By being a vile persecutor 
of the church of C hrist; v. 11. 5. By 
his losing the empire because of it ; v. 
9. 6. By his destroying, putting to 
death four out of the twelve apostles ; 



* She earnestly desired and anxiously sought the salvation of all men. "Who hath 
heard such a thing 1 Who hath seen such things ? Shall the earth be made to bring forth 
in one day ? Or shall a n ition be born at once ? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought 
forth her children. Isaiah, 6C : 8. 



REVELATION. 155 

behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten 
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 



v. 4. 7. By his declaring war against 
both Jews and Christians ; verse 7. 
8. By his nick name, the Old Ser- 
pent, &c. &c. ; v. 9. 9. By his re- 
signing his seat to the beast. 10. By 
his image being worshipped by the 
soldiers because he gave his power to 
the beast, chap. 13 : 4. All his ser- 
vants, one thousand in number, when 
travelling with him, rode on mules 
shod with silver, and were dressed in 
scarlet. But he was naturally big, 
red, and bloated with intemperance ; 
and his garments were stained with 
the blood of a vast multitude of pi- 
ous and innocent Christians whom he 
put to death for having, as he assert- 
ed, set the city of Rome on fire ; but 
it was ascertained afterwards that he 
was the author of it himself. Take 
the words of Tacitus here ; he says 
that "Nero sometimes, when singing, 
would raise himself up on his toes, in 
a vain endeavor to expand the notes, 
and straining his organs, till a face, 
naturally red, was so inflamed as to 
vie with the deepest scarlet." See 
Tacitus, vol. 2, page 384. But ano- 
ther reason may be given for his being 
called a red dragon. See chapter 
17 : 8. 



Seven heads. Seven crowned heads, 
seven kings, who had been crowned 
such. Chap. 17:10. Five had fallen 
by death, one is, that is Nero himself, 
and the other will be crowned within 
three years, that is, Vespasian. How 
could it be said of the seven hills of 
Rome that five had fallen, that one is, 
and another hill has yet to come, and 
be crowned a king ? Some of my 
predecessors have really brought very 
curious and far-fetched arguments to 
try to illustrate John's book of Reve- 
lation, rosh, invariably, among 
the Rabbins and Arabs, means a head 
man, and not a hill. See Numb. 17:3; 
Deut. 28 : 13 ; Is. 1 : 5 ; 1 Eel. 11 : 
3 ; Col. 2:10. If John meant moun- 
tains, he would have called them ti^n 
ha rim. 

Ten horns. Ten princes, gover- 
nors, or kings, who had received no 
kingdoms or provinces as yet, but were 
to have them immediately. Horns 
invariably mean rulers, governors, 
generals, who were next in power to 
the king or head man.* 

Seven croivns. Of honor, not of 
glory. They all were crowned kings 
except the ten little horns. Chapter 
17 : 12. 



* That is, ten kings, who had received no kingdoms as yet. See chap. 17 : 12. This 
is the sense in which we must understand heads and horns in this book, when applied in 
the singular, to the head of an army, it has reference to the general of the army ; but when 
applied to the head of a nation, it has reference to the chief ruler, or emperor. And horns, 
in this book, and in the book of Daniel, mean the next in honor to the head, that is, of the 
nation, or else the head of the army. 



156 



NOTES ON THE 



4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of hea- 
ven, and did cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood 
before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for 
to devour her child as soon as it was born, 



4 His tail. His servants, magis- 
trates, ministers, governors, officers. 

Drew. Dragged them to prison 
and to the stake. 

The third part of the stars of hea- 
ven. The third part of the spiritual 
stars of the church with which the 
woman was crowned, viz. the third 
part of the twelve apostles. See c. 1 : 
20. James the just was killed shortly 
after our Lord's resurrection. James, 
the brother of John, was killed by 
Herod. Andrew died a martyr in 
Patrse by order of the Pro-consul. 
Philip died such in Phrygia in Asia. 
Paul died such shortly after this in 
Rome ; and Peter and John died mar- 
tyrs in Jerusalem ; and all by order of 
INero. So that seven out of the twelve 
apostles were put to death by order 
of this vile, wicked and heathen em- 
peror. Ananias, who was high priest 
under Nero about the fifth year of his 
reign, formed an accusation against 
James, the brother of our Lord, and 
several other christians, as being bra- 
kers of the law of Moses. He sum- 
moned them to appear before the San- 
hedrin, and had them condemned, 
and then delivered to be stoned to 
death. And the second star that his 
tail drew to the earth was James, the 
brother of John, (who wrote the Re- 
velation,) who had been killed by He- 
rod with a sword. Josephus. 

And cast them to the earth. De- 
stroyed them by the sword, by fire 



and faggot. Has the pope, Mahom- 
ed, or Napoleon Bonaparte ever done 
this? We say no. It would be unjust, 
impious, and cruel to charge them 
with it, especially as they cannot 
speak for themselves. We say these 
holy men perished by the hands of 
Nero, and no other ; therefore he is 
the great red dragon with the seven 
heads and ten horns. 

And the dragon stood hefore the 
woman. Watched her with a jealous 
eye. He was greatly alarmed at the 
rapid spread of Christianity through- 
out the empire ; he was afraid the 
christians should gain the ascendancy^ 
deprive him of his power, and finally 
declare Christ to be king in his stead. 
So blind and stupid was this man that 
actually he could not discover the dif- 
ference between a spiritual and secu- 
lar kingdom. 

To devour her child. That is, every 
believer in Christ, or every Chris- 
tian who renounced paganism, and 
embraced the religion of Jesus. Her 
child, may be taken in the singular 
and plural ; it is a national noun, the 
same as Israel. A nation was born 
to the Church in a day, and the child 
is put here for every child born into 
the kingdom of our Immanuel. But 
it may mean Christ himself, who is 
the first born among many brethren. 
He was carried by flight, when an 
infant, into Egypt, to avoid the wrath 
of Herod the king, who thought to 



REVELATION. 



157 



5 And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule 
all nations with a rod of iron : and her child was caught 
up unto God, and to his throne. 

6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she 
hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her 
a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 



slay the young Prince Messiah, and 
prevent him from becoming a rival in 
the government. See Matt. 2 : 13.* 

5 She brought forth a man child. 
A spiritual Jacob, an Israelite in 
whom is no guile. He was not born, 
though begotten, until after the death 
of Esau, or the dead Jew. But Christ 
and Christianity was to rule the whole 
world, and that immediately. This 
refers to Exod. 2 : 2-10 ; 3:10. 

Who should rule all nations with a 
rod of iron. With power and great 
authority. His kingdom is an ever- 
lasting kingdom, and his dominion that 
which shall not pass away; and 
all kingdoms, and nations, and peo- 
ple, and tongues, shall serve him. See 
chap. 2 : 27. 

Her child was caught up to God 
and his throne. He bore them aloft 
on eagles' wings as it were; carried 
them through the Red Sea into the 
wilderness of Judea, where Pharaoh 
and all his host, the spiritual Egyp- 
tians, were drowned. All this, we 
perceive, is in allusion to the flight of 
the Israelites from Egypt to the pro- 



mised land. See Exod. 1 : 16. John 
explains himself in verse 14. 

6 A place prepared. The moun- 
tains and desolate places of Judea, 
inaccessible to the Roman army, or 
more properly the wilderness of Ju- 
dea. Matt. 24 : 16. 

That he should feed her. Sustain 
soul and body ; feed them with hea- 
venly manna. Our spiritual Joseph 
was now ruler over all Egypt, and 
had plenty of provisions for all his 
brethren. He had placed them in 
Goshen, to remain there until the fa- 
mine should be over. See Exodus. 
16 : 15. 

Twelve hundred and sixty days. 
That is, three years and a half ; the 
precise time of the Jewish war. But 
can any person believe, or suppose for 
a moment, that ever the Church of 
Christ was twelve hundred and sixty 
years in the wilderness of Judea ? 
We presume not. The Israelites 
were forty years in the wilderness 
before they reached the promised 
land, and the Christians were forty 
years after the death of Christ in the 



* To destroy every believer in Christ, as soon as he renounced heathenism, idolatry and 
superstition, and embraced the religion of Jesus, that is, the spiritual seed of the woman, 
which has reference to Isaac. 



158 



NOTES ON THE 



7 And there was war in heaven : Michael and his an- 



wilderness of this world, before tliey 
entered the heavenly Jerusalem, and 
became heirs of the spiritual inheri- 
tance, which is incorruptible, unde- 
filed, and that fadeth not away. 

7 War in heaven. In the church. 
Pharaoh, (Nero,) and all his host, 
declared war against Christ and His 
kingdom. The Rabbins say, that 
when Pharaoh and all his host pur- 
sued Israel to the Red Sea there Was 
war in heaven. Michael and his an- 
gels fought. See Ora. fol. 26 : 4; 

Michael and his angels fought. 
Christ and his ministers fought ; sim- 
ply contended for the faith and the 
innocence of the Christians, and the 
injustice of the persecutions raised 
against them by Nero. 

Michael, means Prince Messiah, 
Kimkie. Rabb Buchae asserts, that 
Michael is the Redeemer, the Mes- 
siah ; for he calls himself the God of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Be- 
rasheth, Michael is called Prince 
Messiah, the glory of the Shekinah ; 
and this is the angel, they say, who 
delivered the Israelites from Egyptian 
bondage. And here he appears a se- 
cond time to deliver his people from 
the bondage of spiritual Egypt, b^" 1 ?? 
literally, the smitten, stricken of God ? 
from H^fa ma chah, and b$ aie, the 
very expression that Isaiah uses in 
reference to Christ, chap. 63 : 4. So 
that this is the very Redeemer who 
was stricken, smitten to death for 
our transgressions. At this time the 
12th chap, and 1st verse of Daniel 
was now literally fulfilled ; " and 
at that time (says the angel to Daniel) 



Michael shall stand up, the great 
Prince, which standeth for the chil- 
dren of thy people, and there shall 
be a time of trouble, such as never 
was since there was a nation, even to 
that time ; and at that time thy peo- 
ple shall be delivered, every one that 
shall be found written in the book." 

And at that time. Namely, a lit- 
tle before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. 

Shall Michael stand up. To defend 
his church, and destroy his enemies. 
Michael signifies also, who is like 
God, and none was so like Him as our 
Savior; He was the brightness ol 
His Father's glory, and the express 
image of His person. Heb. 1 : 3. 

The 'great Pince. That is, of 
peace. Is. 9:6; Acts, 3 : 15; and 
chap. 1:5. 

Which standeth for the children of 
thy people. To contend for them, as 
their counsellor, and to defend them 
as their king. 

And there shall be a time of trouble. 
Of great tribulation; such as wars 
and rumors of wars, nation rising 
against nation, and kingdom against 
kingdom, and earthquakes in diffe- 
rent places; also pestilence, and fa- 
mine, and a great persecution shall 
be raised against the people of the 
Most High. 

Such as there never was since there 
was a nation, even to that time. 
That is, the tribulation shall be great- 
er then than ever it was before, viz. 
the destruction of Jerusalem. It is 
very remarkable that our Lord quoted 
these very words from Daniel, and 



REVELATION. 



159 



gels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and 
his angels, 



applies tliem particularly to the ca- 
lamities that took place before that 
city was destroyed. "For then 
shall be great tribulation, such as was 
not since the beginning of the world 
to this time " — and then our Savior 
adds, " no, nor ever shall be." See 
Matt. 24 : 21. And our Lord quoted 
another passage from Daniel before 
this, to show that the prophet had re- 
ference to the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem. He says, " when ye therefore 
see the abomination of desolation, 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
stand in the holy place, (whoso read- 
eth let him understand,) then let them 
which be in Judea flee unto the 
mountains," &c. 

When ye therefore see the abomina- 
tion. That is, the Roman army ; 
they were abominable to both Jews 
and Christians, because of their idol- 
atry and superstition ; they carried 
their ensigns at the head of every le- 
gion, and sacrificed to them, as their 
gods, and even wors hipped them, as 
such. 

y Of desolation. That is, the nation 
that made the world desolate, and 
that was to desolate Jerusalem, and 
to make Judea like a wilderness. 

Spoken of by Daniel the prophet. 
See chap. 9 : 27. 

Stand in the holy place. This may 
mean either Judea, or the place where 
Titus pitchedHiis camp ; which place 
was considered holy, because so near 
to the holy city. 

Whoso readeth let him understand. 
That is, the prophecies of Daniel, let 



him understand that these things re- 
fer to the destruction of Jerusalem, 
and not to B aby Ion. 

Then let them which be in Judea 
fee into the mountains. Into the 
place St. John calls the wilderness. 
See verse 14. But the angel farther 
observes to Daniel, that at that time 
the people shall be delivered, every 
one that is found and written in the 
book, viz. of life. 

And his angels. Ministers, civil 
and military. They carried out his 
edict, that is, to persecute and put to 
death all Jews and Christians. They 
fought with carnal weapons, but 
Christ and his people with spiritual. 
The latter were mighty to the pulling 
down of the strong holds of Satan. 
" They overcame him by the blood 
of the Lamb," v. 11. This undoubt- 
edly refers to the persecution raised 
against the Christians by the Empe- 
ror Nero. This miserable tyrant, 
whom some of his own writers scruple 
not to call a beast in human shape, 
the very monster of mankind, set the 
city of Rome on fire, in the year of 
our Lord 65, and when he had seen 
the people so provoked at his wicked 
conduct, and that he was in danger 
of losing his life if the truth of the 
matter were found out, he wickedly 
and maliciously imputed the burning 
of the city to the Christians ; this 
raised a most bloody persecution 
against them ; they were treated with 
the most cruel deaths that could be 
inflicted on them ; he had some of 
them sewed up in the stuns of wild 



160 



NOTES ON THE 



8 And prevailed not ; neither was their place found 
any more in heaven. 



beasts, and then worried to death by 
dogs, and others he had dressed in 
shirts made stiff with wax, and fixed 
to axletrees in his own garden, and 
then set fire to them, that they might 
serve for torches ; while some were 
crucified on crosses, and others be- 
headed, and some burnt alive at the 
stake ; this persecution was general 
throughout the empire. This was 
the first general persecution raised 
against the Christians, and the one 
alluded to by our Lord in Matthew, 
24 : 9, 10. 

8 Prevailed not. They conquered 
and subdued all the nations of the 
earth, but could not bring Christianity 



into subjection to idolatry. The 
Christians were sprinkled with the 
blood of the Paschal Lamb, and the 
destroying angel passed over them.* 
Neither was their place found any 
more in heaven. The Church was 
now scattered into every quarter of 
the world by persecution. There 
was therefore no place where they 
could meet together for public wor- 
ship. War in Judea, and persecu- 
tion in the Roman Empire, scattered 
them into every part of the world. 
They obeyed our Lord's command 
in this respect : — When they perse- 
cute you in one city, flee into an- 
other, f 



He did not conquer them, or utterly destroy them, as he intended ; there were a few 
had fallen to purge and purify others, and to make them stronger in the faith. See Dan. 
11 : 33. Such a thing never was seen or heard of before in the world, as for a few inno- 
cent followers of Jesus, without sword or spear, or any other weapon of defence, to pre- 
vail over a nation that had conquered the world. But how did they do this ? They over- 
came them by the blood of the Lamb. See verse 11. How true are the words of Moses, 
that one should chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. See Deut. 32 : 30. 

t The emporor Nero was so much afraid of a rival in the government that if he heard 
of a few people assembling themselves together, even for amusement, he thought they were 
forming a conspiracy against him, and had them either destroyed or banished. This, no 
doubt, was the cause why the christians dare not assemble together for religious worship, 
for fear that Nero should have them put to death, as plotters against the government. But 
some may think that the war spoken of here had reference to the time when the devil and 
his angels had sinned and were cast out of heaven. But this cannot be, for the contest 
was on earth ; see verse 9 ; and the victory was obtained by the blood of the Lamb, and 
we know that this was not shed until A. D. 33 ; and it was after this that the victory was 
gained. Again, it is said that these faithful followers of the Lamb loved not their lives 
unto the death. So that it cannot have reference to angelic spirits, for they cannot die ; 
and not only so, but the effects that were immediately to follow the conquest were these : 
the kingdoms of this world were to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. 
See verse 10. The contest began A. D. 65, and the victory was completed on the part of 
Christ and his church, A. D. 70. 



REVELATION. 



161 



9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole 



9 And the great dragon was cast out. 
From the throne of the Csesars. The 
persecution of the Christians was the 
very first step which led to this, and 
his ministers who assisted in this cru- 
el persecution were put out of office 
also by Vespasian.* 

The old serpent, called the devil 
and satan. He was only called such, 
because a complete model of his fa- 
ther the devil. He was a deceiver, 
slanderer, &c. which is the very 
meaning of devil and satan. He is 
called the accuser of the brethren, 
and the deceiver of the world, v. 11. f 
He was called a serpent, as a nick- 
name, from the story that when an 
infant, a serpent crept out from under 



his pillow, and he barely escaped los- 
ing his life. He is probably com- 
pared to a serpent because he was 
so long permitted to diffuse his poi- 
son upon the innocent followers of 
Christ, without being destroyed. But 
how true is the old proverb, that 
" wrath killeth the foolish man, and 
envy slayeth the silly one." It may 
well be said to be the rottenness of 
the bones : after he had reigned near- 
ly fourteen years, and shamefully 
abused his power in the government, 
he committed the management of af- 
fairs to two vile wretches, Nimphi- 
das and Tigillimus, his unworthy 
freedmen ; and they afterwards laid 
a plot to destroy him. And when 



* It is very remarkable that the first conspiracy which was made against him was by 
Fiso, a man of great power and integrity, and this for his cruelty to the christians, in 
punishing them for the burning of Rome, a crime which he had been guilty of himself 5 
and though he was not destroyed by this conspiracy, yet it was the main cause of his los- 
ing the empire and putting an end to his life. See verse 16. 

t We see from this that he was only called the devil, and that, in reality, he was 
not such. Mark the distinction between the dragon, who is called such in this verse, 
and the real devil himself in verse 12. And though the devil himself is called the dra- 
gon, and the old serpent, in chapter 20 : 3, yet there is a distinctiou. Tt is said in the last 
chapter and verse quoted, which is the devil and. satan, that is in reality. And here it is 
said, which is called the devil and satan, but in reality is not. See chapter 2: 10. But 
to make the matter more plain, and to show clearly that St. John did not mean the devil 
loimself, the dragon in this verse is the same person that is called the dragon in verse 3, 
and there it is said that he had seven heads and ten horns ; and these seven heads, ac- 
cording to chapter 17 : 1©, are seven kings, who had received kingdoms, and who had been 
crowned kings. And the ten horns were ten kings who had received no kingdoms at this 
time, but had received power as kings one hour with the beast. So that the heads and 
horns here could not belong to satan, nor to his empire. This the reader will clearly see 
when I come t<© chapter 17. See chapter 16 : 14. 

21 



162 



NOTES ON THE 



world : he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were 
cast out with him. 



he saw that all his guards had de- 
serted him, and that he was in dan- 
ger of his life, for every door was 
shut against him, he fled into the 
suburbs of Rome, where he slew 
himself with a sword. And thus we 
see, that the justice of God pursued 
this vile wretch, who had shed so 
much innocent blood. See Isa. 27 : L 
B at this is not the only reason why St. 
John calls him an old serpent ; for 
another more plausible one may he 
given. Suetonius says that it was 
commonly reported that some assas- 
sins were employed by Messalina, 
Claudius's wife, to strangle him in 
taking his usual nap at noon, as the 
rival of Britannicus. This addition 
too, he observes, was made to the 
story, that they were frightened by a 
serpent that crept from under his pil- 
low and ran away. Which tale was 
occasioned by the finding the skin of 
that animal in his bed by the bolster; 
which, by his mother's order, he 
wore for some time on his right arm, 
enclosed in a bracelet of gold, which 
at last, from an aversion to her me- 
mory, he laid aside. See Suet, in 
Nero, sect. 6. And not only this, 
but Agrippina, his mother, poisoned 
Claudius, Nero's step-father, which 
was the cause of his coming to the 
empire. So that, from these circum- 
ces, it is not improbable that he was 
called the serpent, by the people of 
Rome, as a nickname, and the old ser- 
pent by St. John, because he wore 
the skin of this animal on his arm 
from youth to manhood. 
The village of Phain, where he 



killed himself, was after his death 
nicknamed The city of the serpent, 
and this in derision of Nero. He 
was condemned by the Senate, and 
sentenced to be dragged naked through 
the streets of Rome, and whipped to 
death, and his body to be thrown down 
and dashed to pieces from the Tar- 
pean rock. But to prevent this he 
killed himself. Here then was the 
end of the vile persecutor. 

How uncertain, then, is human 
greatness and grandeur. The world 
is nothing but a bubble, which will 
soon burst. Haman is premier to-day. 
to-morrow is hanged on a gallows as 
a traitor to his king and queen. Mor- 
decai is a beggar to-day, the next 
a prince of state. Nebuchadnezzar 
to-day is king of great Babylon and 
of the earth, to-morrow is a compa- 
nion of the herds of the stall, and 
earing out of the same manger with 
them. " He ate grass with the oxen, 
until his body was wet with the dew 
of heaven, and his hair grown long and 
coarse like eagles' feathers, and his 
nails like birds* claws : and not till 
then did he remember that the Most 
High ruleth in the kingdom among 
men, and giveth it to whom he thinks 
proper." Dan. 4 : 33. 

Napoleon is an emperor to-day, and 
when on the pinnacle of honor, his 
whole army cry out, live V empereur — 
long live the emperor ; to-morrow he 
is chained as a prisoner of state to a 
rock in the ocean — and now it is down 
with the emperor, and up with the 
king : live la roi — long live the king. 

One moment Paul is a murderer, 



REVELATION. 



163 



10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is 
come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, 
and the power of his Christ : for the accuser of our breth- 
ren is cast down, which accused them before God day 
and night. 



but it is in the eye of a barbarian ; 
the next moment he is a god. We 
see then that man is a mere creature 
of circumstances, actuated in every 
thing by prejudice or selfish motives. 
"He never looks beyond the smoke 
of his own chimney." 

"Blessed is the man, therefore, 
who maketh the Lord his defence, 
and respecteth not the proud, nor 
such as turn aside to lies." Amen. 

He was cast out into the earth. He 
was cast out of office, and out of the 
city of Rome.* 

His angels. Senators, magistrates, 
ministers to foreign courts.f 

10 Now is come. The time. Yea, 
the set time to favor Zion has come. 
The heathen shall now be given to 
Christ for his inheritance, and the ut- 
termost parts of the earth to him for 
his possession. Our old ffl'nj na chash, 



enemy, serpent, is deprived of his 
power ; his fangs are taken out, and 
he cannot diffuse his poison again 
among the poor pious Christians. 
Glory to God in the highest, our re- 
demption is now complete. King 
Jesus has put to flight the armies of 
the aliens, and we are victorious 
through the blood of the Lamb. 

Salvation. A great and glori- 
ous victory over our last and great- 
est enemy. Zion has now travailed 
in birth for the salvation of the whole 
world. Her first-born is destroyed; 
therefore a nation shall be born to her 
in a day. The seed of Jacob will 
now go up and inherit the goodly 
land, and possess it for ever and ever. 

Strength. Union is strength. The 
world will now be united with us, 
and one shall chase a thousand, and 
two put ten thousand to flight ; the 



* Some have supposed that this had reference to the time when the devil and his an- 
gels were cast out of heaven ; but this cannot be St. John's meaning, for the devil and his 
angels were cast out of heaven before the world had an existence ; and it was not into the 
earth they were cast, but into hell. So that, if by the earth here we understand the dry 
land, the world, or the people of the world, we must easily perceive that it could not 
have reference to the time when the devil and his angels were banished out of heaven. «3 

t Jcsephus observes, that after Vespasian had arrived to the throne, in order to secure 
his success and establish his government, he distributed his offi and places on the foot 
of justice, and bestowed them on such as best deserved them and were best fitted for 
them. See Josephus, War, book 4, 11:1. This wise conduct, in a mere heathen, should 
be an example to all kings and rulers, viz. to do every thing without partiality and hy- 
pocrisy, 



164 



NOTES ON THE 



11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb 
and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not 
their lives unto the death. 



armies of the aliens will flee in every 
direction when no man pursueth. 
The saints of the Most High shall 
now take the kingdom and possess it 
for ever and ever. Amen and Amen. 
And let the people say, Amen. 

The kingdom of our GOD. The 
Christian religion. This shall prevail 
all over the world. It shall be like 
the stone taken out of the mount, — 
rolling onward until all kindreds, and 
tongues, and nations shall submit 
to it.* 

Tlie power of his Christ. He will 
now be King of nations as well as 
that of saints. He will, blessed be 
God, have dominion from the rivers 
to the ends of the earth, and all shall 
know King Jesus from the least even 
unto the greatest. 

For the accuser of our brethren. 
The deceiver, slanderer, liar, serpent, 
devil, and satan — the red dragon, the 
drunkard, gambler, glutton, murderer, 
is dethroned, and as he cannot now 
destroy the pious Christians, he will 



soon murder himself. This is the end 
of all impious monarchs who have 
ever persecuted Christ and his follow- 
ers. Let men in power, and infidels 
in particular, beware how they touch 
the Lord and his anointed ; for so 
surely as they do, God will punish 
them severely. 

He accused them day and night. 
At all times, and under all circum- 
stances, he vented his spleen upon the 
Christians. But he lived too fast to 
live ong ; envy is the rottenness of the 
bones, and anger rests in the bosom 
of fools. He was consumed by the 
fire of hell which was raging in his 
own bosom. 

11 They overcame him by the blood 
of the Lamb. The holiness and sim- 
plicity of their lives, and purity of 
their doctrines, proved to the world 
that they were unjustly put to death. 
" The blood of the martyrs was the 
seed of the Church."f 

And the word of their testimony. 
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 



* The emperor Nero and the Jews were the two most bitter enemies the followers of 
Christ had to contend with. So that when the dragon had killed himself, and the Jews 
were destroyed, the church had ease, and were at full liberty to spread the glad tidings of 
salvation throughout the whole world. 

t According to the doctrines of Christianity, it was impossible for the followers of Christ 
to have set the city of Rome on fire, or even be guilty of the least act of injustice to their 
fellow men. But again, it may mean the testimony of Jesus, viz. that he was the Christ. 
It was for the want of this testimony that the Jews were destroyed by the Romans ; and 
it was for having it that the christians were preserved. 



REVELATION. 



12 Therefore rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in 
them. Wo to the inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea ! 
for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, 
because he knoweth he hath but a short time. 



which declares that there is no other 
name given among men, by which 
we can be saved, but the name of 
Jesus. This they affirmed in the 
midst of the fire and flames. 

And they loved not their lives unto 
death. They were willing to suffer 
and die for the name of Jesus, and 
they did do it faithfully, manfully and 
cheerfully. Can the boasting, misera- 
ble, cold-hearted, uncharitable infi- 
del, produce an instance of thousands 
of martyrs dying at the stake for the 
truth of infidelity? They are afraid 
to die even a natural death, much 
more to die a martyr's death. The 
Christians triumphed in the flames, 
and this through the blood of the 
Lamb.* 

12 Rejoice ye heavens Ye holy, 
happy people. The Church of Christ 
every where. 

Wo to the inhabitants of the earth. 
The Jews every where, in every part 
of the earth ; your destruction is at 
hand. 

And the sea. About the sea coast 
and on the lakes, and the inhabitants 



in these regions ; for they shall not 
escape. 

For the devil is come down to you. 
The real devil, the very diabolus him- 
self, is now let loose from the bottom- 
less pit, to utterly destroy. The ene- 
my of God and man. The Jews 
sold themselves to him to work all 
manner of wickedness, and he came 
now to take his captives to himself 
and into Egypt, and sell them there 
for bondmen and bondwomen. He is 
the only slave-dealer we read of in 
the Bible. He is the Alpha and 
Omega of the vile traffic. 

Having great wrath. He is come 
as a roaring lion, his mouth is open 
and ready to tear in pieces, and ut- 
terly destroy all whom he can lay 
hold upon. 

He hath but a short time. That is 
twelve hundred and sixty days. Then 
he will be remanded to his prison, 
chained again, until the thousand 
years are expired, when he will be 
loosed again for a little season, to de- 
ceive Gog and Magog. 

Having great wrath. Infuriated, 



* Would to God the christians of the present age were, like them, regardless of their 
life so that they might but win Christ and obtain eternal life. But instead of being zeal- 
ous for the spread of the gospel, and the salvation of poor perishing sinners, they are like 
wolves, biting and devouring each other, either privately or publicly, from the press. But 
men of this character know little or nothing about the mild spirit of Christ, for when he 
was reviled he reviled not again. 



166 



NOTES ON THE 



13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto 
the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth 
the m^n-cJiild. 

14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great 
eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, 
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a 
time, from the face of the serpent. 

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a 



mad with wrath, like a roaring lion 
seeking whom he may devour; he 
will scatter, tear, and slay all before 
him.* 

13 He persecuted the woman. That 
is in a private, not in a public way. 
He gave orders to Vespasian to de- 
clare war against the Christians as 
well as the Jews, to make no distinc- 
tion between them. See verse 17, 
where John calls this persecution war 
with the remnant of her seed. See 
chap. 11 : 7. 

14 Two wings of a great eagle. 
They soared aloft on the wings of 
faith and love; faith on her part, 
love on Christ's part. The allusion 
is to Deut. 32 : 12, where wings mean 
his power and protection. With these 
he conducted the Israelites safe into 
the wilderness, from the power of 
Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 

Fly into the wilderness. The moun- 
tains and desolate places in Judea, 
where she was perfectly safe from 
the power of the enemy. 



Into the place. Which the Savior 
prepared for her before His death on 
the Cross. Matt. 24 : 16. 

A time, one year ; times, two years; 
and half a time, six months. The 
same as the twelve hundred and six- 
ty days; chap. 11 : 6. We ask, on 
what authority then do some inter- 
pret this prophetically ? We say, 
without any authority. 

From the face of the serpent. From 
his power and influence where he could 
not see, nor hear from, nor have ac- 
cess to her. 

15 He cast out of his mouth water 
as a f ood. Abuse and slander. But 
this may mean persecution in a pri- 
vate way, as he could not do it pub- 
licly. He ordered his civil and mili- 
tary officers not to countenance Chris- 
tianity ; to punish the Christians as 
well as the Jews. But the Chris- 
tians were like the Israelites in Egypt, 
the more they were oppressed and 
afflicted, the more they grew and 
prospered, until they became a great 



* Viz. when he saw that he was likely to be dethroned and killed for setting fire to the 
city of Rome, he persecuted the woman. Who that reads the former verse, and compares 
it with this, but must perceive that the devil in the former verse, and the dragon in the 
latter, are two distinct beings. 



REVELATION. 



167 



flood, after the woman, that he might cause her to be car- 
ried away of the flood. 

16 And the earth helped the woman ; and the earth 
opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the 
dragon cast out of his mouth. 

17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and 



and mighty nation. How true is our 
Lord's saying, "the world will love 
its own " — but ye are not of the 
world, "therefore the world hateth 
you, because ye are not of the 
world.* 

16 And the earthhelped the woman. 
That is, the people of the earth, 
viz. of the Roman empire. They 
were now fully convinced that Nero 
himself had set the city of Home on 
fire, and imputed the burning of it 
to the Christians. They, therefore, 
condemned the malicious and wicked 
emperor, and justified the poor in- 
nocent Christians; and finally the 
public sentiment became so strong 
in favor of them that the persecu- 
tion ceased, and Nero lost the em- 
pire by it. Tacitus, though a vile 
enemy to Christ and his church, has 
given us a most excellent comment 
on this text. At length, (says he,) 
the cruelty of these proceedings 



(referring to the persecution raised 
against the Christians by Nero) filled 
every breast with compassion ; hu- 
manity relented in favor of the Chris- 
tians ; the manners of that people, no 
doubt, were of a pernicious tenden- 
cy, but it was very evident that they 
fell a sacrifice, not for the public 
good, but to glut the rage and cru- 
elty of one man only," (the emperor 
Nero.) See vol. 2. page 294. 

17 He went to make war with the rem- 
nant of her seed. In Jerusalem and 
Judea, Vespasian had orders from 
Nero to put the Christians to death 
as well as the Jews. Chap. 11 : 7. 
A prophecy, recollect, is made up of 
two parts, the present and the fu- 
ture. It is present in the mind of 
him who foretells the event, and fu- 
ture as to the fulfilment of it. If we 
keep this in mind, we shall not have 
much difficulty in understanding St. 
John's meaning.f 



* That is, he threw the blame on the christians, instead of himself, and by this means 
had them persecuted throughout the empire. St. John, in the seventh verse, makes use 
of the words of Daniel, and calls the persecution war in heaven ; and now he explains 
what the prophet meant by war in heaven, namely, a great persecution against the church 
of Christ. 

t Her seed has reference to her child spoken of in verse 5 ; and as John has mentioned 



16S 



NOTES ON THE 



went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which 
keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony 
of Jesus Christ. 



but one child, it necessarily follows that he had reference to either our Savior, or else to 
her children in general ; and as there was part of her seed destroyed, and part of them 
saved, as is expressed above, it follows of course that by the man-child the woman brought 
forth, we are to understand her children in general. And again, if her child or children 
were caught up unto God, literally, it would have been impossible for him or them to have 
been destroyed by the dragon. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a 
beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten 



1 And I stood on the sand of the 
sea. As the sea, among the Rabbins, 
means hostile armies and nations, 
standing here on the sand of the sea 
may mean standing in Rome, or with- 
in sight of the camp and hostile army, 
which were prepared to march into 
Judea. Here, no doubt, he saw the 
beast personally, and his two sons, 
Titus and Domitian. See introduc- 
tion, where this subject is referred to. 

A beast. The same beast alluded 
to in chapter 11:7. 



Rise up out of the sea. That is, 
out of the Roman empire, or the Ro- 
man army. He rose gradually, step 
by step, from a poor private soldier 
in the ranks, to be commander-in-chief 
of the whole army, and from there to 
the throne of the Ceesars. He was, 
like Napoleon Bonaparte, raised from 
the lower ranks of life to be an em* 
peror. The sea, among the Rabbins, 
means nations, kingdoms, empires, ar- 
mies, multitudes of people. Hence, 
nations are compared to seas, and Is» 



REVELATION. 169 

horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads 
the name of blasphemy. 



rael to the sand of the sea shore, be- 
cause innumerable. Yalkot Simeone, 
fol. 44 : 4. See chap. 17 : 15.* 

Having seven heads and ten horns. 
Having the same power and authority 
as the dragon, and the very same 
princes at his command to carry on 
the war. The heads here mean the 
same as in chap. 12 : 3. This demon- 
strates that he was the successor of 
the great red dragon. John includes 
the beast himself as one of the heads, 
because an emperor in anticipation ; 
the time of his coronation was at 
hand. He knew well, from the pro- 
phecy of Daniel, that he would be 
emperor in Nero's place. 

Ten crowns. They were consti- 



tuted, appointed kings, princes, and 
governors, but were not in possession 
of their provinces or kingdoms yet, 
but would be very soon ; they were 
crowned prospectively. f 

On his heads the names of blasphe- 
my. They were called gods, and 
Worshipped as such. This distinction 
and honor all the Roman emperors 
sought after. It is the highest degree 
of blasphemy for a creature to as- 
sume the name of God, and be wor- 
shipped as such, that is, feared, hon- 
ored, obeyed, served, worshipped as 
God. See chap 14 : 9, and note be- 
low. I Surely these heads must be 
heathens, and not Christians. 

A leopard. Fierce, cruel, artful, 



* The sea here, and the bottomless pit in chap. 9 : 2, mean the same thing, and have 
reference to the Roman army. And the beast rising up out of the sea, and ascending up 
out of the bottomless pit, are synonymous terms. 

t The only distinction between the heads and the horns in the former chapter and this, 
is that the seven heads are said to have had seven crowns, and the ten horns are repre- 
sented as not being crowned as yet ; and here the ten horns are said to have ten crowns. 
So that if the latter be the same as the former, they must have been crowned after Ves- 
pasian had arrived to the throne. As I have before observed that a king, among the Jews, 
meant no more than a general of the army, or else a governor of a particular province, I 
shall avoid saying any more on this subject at the present. 

t Each of these heads had assumed the blasphemous title of God, and wished to be 
worshipped as such. The word is used in a more limited sense in this book than it is 
with us. In chapter2 : 9 it is said, " I know the blasphemy of them which say they are 
Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of satan." Here we see that it was blasphemy 
for a person to assume the name of a Jew when, in a spiritual sense, he was not a Jew. 
So it was with each of these rulers ; they assumed the title of God, when devils in dispo' 
sition. In the reign of Caius Caligula, about the year of our Lord 40, he ordered a tem- 
ple to be built and dedicated to his own divinity, in which his statue of gold was placed, 
and every day dressed in robes similar to those which he himself wore : it was worshipped 

22 



170 



NOTES ON THE 



2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, 
and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as 
the mouth of a lion : and the dragon gave him his power, 
and his seat, and great authority. 



swift, subtle, bloodthirsty ; and his 
garments all spotted and stained with 
the blood of the saints. " Where the 
carcass is there will the eagles be gath- 
ered together also." See Dan. 7:6; 
Isaiah, 11 : 6; Jer. 5:6; Heb. 1 : 8. 
This is a title given to none by the 
Rabbins but great generals and war- 
riors of the Gentile nation. 

2 His feet as the feet of a bear. 
Firm, fixed, resolute ; determined to 
conquer or die in the conflict. Ris 
feet seem to mean his soldiers, who 



were men of great courage, zeal, and 
firmness. 

His mouth as the mouth of a lion. 
His spirit was commanding, powerful, 
eloquent, furious, full of wrath and 
venom, and was the mouth-piece of 
Nero, who is called a lion. The dra- 
gon gave the beast unlimited power 
and authority to destroy all the Jews 
and all the Christians in Judea and 
Jerusalem ; and finally had to resign 
his seat to him in the empire, that is, 
three years hence. See Dan. 8 : 24. # 



by crowds of adorers, and his priests were numerous, and the sacrifices made to him the 
most exquisite and delicious. See Goldsmith's History of Rome, p. 200. And we need 
not think strange of this, for the entire religion of the Roman camp consisted in worship- 
ping their ensigns and sacrificing to them, and even preferring them above all other gods. 
Compare Acts, 12 : 22, 23, with this verse. From this we see that it is blasphemy, in the 
sight of God, for a creature to assume the name of his Creator. And we know, that the 
pope has assumed the name of God, and professes to be infallible, and scruples not to be 
styled our lord, god, the pope, another god upon earth, king of kings, and lord of lords, 
his divine majesty, the virtuous god — a man in his see of Rome, whose power is greater 
than all created power, extending itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal. See 
Faber on the prophecies. And there are others who detest the pope, and ridicule him for 
assuming such titles, and yet they are but one step behind him themselves, for they assume 

the title of arch-bishop, the lord bishop of , and scruple not to be styled my lord, and 

his lordship the bishop of These are titles that belong to the Ruler of the universe, 

and not to a sinful, and corrupt worm of the earth. And if it was blasphemy for a Jew 
to call himself such when in reality he was not, it must be equally such for a man to 
assume the name of a lord, or a bishop, when in reality he is neither. " But though 
there are many who are called gods and lords, yet with us there is but one God, and one 
Lord, even Jesus Christ the Righteous." See 1 Cor. 8 : 5, 6. And not only so, but any 
person who assumes even the title of minister of the gospel, when he has never been call- 
ed by the Holy Spirit to this office, comes under this head. 

* There was no general in the whole Roman empire whom Nero thought better calcu- 



REVELATION, 



171 



3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to 
death ; and his deadly wound was healed : and all the 
world wondered after the beast. 

4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power 
unto the beast : and they worshipped the beast, saying, 
Who is like unto the beast 1 who is able to make war 
with him ? 



3 One of his heads wounded. One 
of the dragon's seven heads, (empe- 
rors,) that is, Vespasian himself ; he is 
included by John as one of the heads, 
chapter 12 : 3, and verse 12 of this 
chapter. The general was severely 
wounded at the siege of Jotapata, and 
a report went through the army that 
he was killed. He recovered from 
his wound, however, but lost a good 
deal of blood by it. See v. 12.* 

All the world. The whole Ro- 
man empire were anxious to hear of 
his health, as well as the progress of 
the war. There certainly was not 
a more popular man in the whole em- 
pire. 



4 And they. The Roman army 
and people of the empire, except the 
Christians, who were an obstinate, 
unyielding set of men ; the heathen 
emperor did not know what to do with 
them, so he concluded in the end it 
was best to let them alone. The 
Christians were by the Romans de- 
nominated "superstitious, the haters 
of mankind." 

Worshipped the dragon. That is, 
they highly commended him, spoke 
well of him, and worshipped him, 
sacrificed to his image as a mark of 
respect. They done this because he 
placed Vespasian at the head of the 
army. Here then are two emperors 



lated to take the command of the army, and to earry on the war, than Vespasian ; for he 
was growing an old man already in the camp ; and as he had been exercised in war from 
his youth up, he must have been a general of more experience than any other in the em- 
pire, and of course better able to bear the burden of so mighty a war as that with the 
Jews. See Josephus, War, book 3, 1. See chap. 9:11, and 11:7. 

* At the siege and taking of Jotapata, a certain Jew shot a dart at Vespasian, and 
wounded him in the foot. This caused the greatest disorder among the Romans, for when 
those who stood near him saw his blood, they were greatly alarmed, and a report went 
abroad throughout the army that the general was dangerously wounded, while the greatest 
part of the army left the siege, and came running together with surprise to see their gen- 
eral, and some were afraid that the wound would terminate in his death. Also Titus, his 
son, out of the concern he had for his father, came to see him, and was in very great 
agony to find his father in such distress, for his wound was dangerous. Josephus. 



A 72 NOTES ON THE 

5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking 
great things and blasphemies ; and power was given unto 
him to continue forty and two months. 



living at the same time, and both wor- 
shipped alike, and surely these could 
not be popes. 

They worshipped the beast. They 
feared, reverenced, admired, and ex- 
tolled him as the greatest general in 
the world, which no nation could con- 
quer ; and also sacrificed oxen ancj 
sheep to him as a god. 



5 There was given unto him a 
mouth. Great power and authority 
to enact civil and military laws and 
regulations for the government of his 
army, and those nations which he 
brought into subjection to the em- 
pire.* 

And power was given unto him to 
continue forty and two months. That 



* This is the person spoken of by Daniel under the character of the little horn. See 
chap. 7:7. " After this," says he, " I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, 
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth : it devoured 
and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it : and it was diverse from 
all the beasts that were before it ; and it had ten horns." 

After this. — -That is, after he had seen the vision of the other three kingdoms spoken 
of under the emblem of a lion, a bear, and a leopard, (see verses 4, 5, 6,) namely, the 
kingdoms of Media, Persia, and Greece. See chap. 8 : 20, 21. 

In the night-vision.— l.n his dream. See verse 1. 

And behold a fourth beast. — That is, the fourth kingdom on the earth, namely, the 
Roman empire ; or it may mean Vespasian. This is sufficiently plain from the 23d verse ; 
for this kingdom was to devour the whole earth, and to tread it down, and to brake it in 
pieces ; and we know that this has been the case with Rome, for her dominion extended 
throughout the world. 

Dreadful.— To their enemies. 

And terrible. — To tear in pieces, and to devour every nation that opposed them. 
r And strong exceedingly. — Because of its wealth and vast number of inhabitants and 
soldiers. 

And it had great iron teeth. — This may have reference to the power of their arms. 
It devoured. — Their enemies, and this by the force of arms, the zeal and courage of 
their soldiers- 

And brake in pieces. — Subdued and conquered every nation that opposed them. But 
this may allude to the power and force of their battering rams, which broke down the 
thickest walls and strongest houses that came before them. Ezekiel had previously pre- 
dicted that the Romans would destroy the walls of Jerusalem with their battering ram9. 
See Ezekiel, 4 : 2. 

And stamped the re$idue with the feet of it. — The feet refer to the soldiers ; and the 



REVELATION. 



173 



6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, 



is, three years and a half. This may 
be the time fixed by God himself, or 
by the government, to finish the war*, 
But surely it cannot mean that he 
should continue the war 1260 years. 
This would be impossible. There- 



fore John's twelve hundred and sixty 
days must be interpreted literally, 
and not prophetically. The Jewish 
month was but 30 days, and the year 
300 days. 

He opened his mouth in blasphemy 



residue, to the remainder part of their enemies, which were not yet conquered by them, 
and must undoubtedly mean the Jews. 

Audit was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. — The laws, customs, and 
dispositions of the people of this empire, as well as the general himself, shall be different 
from that of the other three kingdoms which were before it. 

And it had ten horns — At the time when the transgressors had come to the full, (see 
chap. 8 : 23,) namely, the Jews, when the measure of their iniquity had come to the full, 
then the ten horns were to rise out of the Roman empire. See chap. 17 : 12. 

I beheld till the beast was slain. — By death. An inward complaint had seized Vespa- 
sian at Campania, which, from the beginning, he declared would prove fatal ; and seeing 
his dissolution drawing near, as he was just going to expire, he cried out that an emperor 
ought to die standing, and raising himself upon his feet, he died in the hands of those that 
supported him. See Prov. 7 : 26 ; Hos. 6:5; Ezek. 37 : 9. 

And his body destroyed. — This no doubt refers to the manner in which the Romans 
mangled dead bodies before they burnt them on the pile. 

And given to the burning flame. — To be consumed to ashes, and the ashes carefully 
preserved. This was done through respect, for the Romans considered it an honorable 
thing to burn their dead, and dishonorable to bury them. Tacitus reflects on the Jews 
for this, and says the Jews have derived their custom of burying, instead of burning their 
dead, from the Egyptians ; they have also the same care of the dead with them. See his 
history of the Jews, book 5, chap. 5. After Christianity became the established religion 
of the empire, the custom of burning dead bodies ceased, and from that time to this they 
have continued to bury their dead. This, therefore, could not have reference to the pope, 
or to any beast belonging to the empire from that time to the present. See chap. 20 : 10. 

Verse 8. " I considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another little 
horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots ; and behold, 
in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." 

And behold there came up among them, another little horn. — That is, Vespasian com- 
ing up among them signifies that he was gradually ascending, step by step, from one de- 
gree of honor to another, till at length he arrived to the throne. But the reason why 
Daniel calls him the little horn is this, because of the meanness of his birth ; he was little 
in comparison to the rest of the horns in this respect, . His grandfather had been a pri- 



174 



NOTES ON THE 



to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that 
dwell in heaven. 

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the 



against God. He declared himself a 
God, and Christ to be no God. He 
treated Him with contempt and ridi- 
cule, and charged him with being 
" a malefactor who was hanged on a 
tree by his own nation." Hence, 
tiifi6lM "iSTi O^ba b$ He shall 
predict wonderful things against the 
God of Elohim. That is, King Jesus, 
the Messiah. He predicted the 
downfall of his kingdom, as well as 
that of Israel. But the Christians 
were too mighty for him. They took 
the kingdom away from the beast. 
Dan, 11 : 39. 



His tabernacle. The holy apostles 
and ministers of Christ. 

And them that dwell in heaven. 
The followers of Christ, who are 
members of his church militant, and 
heirs of the church triumphant. 

7 And he had power to make war 
with the saints. With the Christians. 
The war was waged against them as 
well as the Jews. But Titus could 
not bring his army into the mountains 
and wilderness of Judea, to seize the 
Christians, as he did the Jews at Je- 
rusalem.* 

To overcome them. That is, a few 



vate soldier, and his father a petty officer in the revenue. See Gibbon's History of Rome. 

Before whom, fyc. — In his time, and to open the way for himself to arrive at the throne. 

There, were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. — That is, they were de- 
throned and subdued. The three horns mean Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who had all 
obtained the crown, but the whole of them did not maintain it much more than one year. 
But let us remember that Daniel has said that these ten horns all belonged to the one 
kingdom. 

And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man. — That is, he was a person 
of deep penetration in the affairs of war ; experience had taught him this. For the remain- 
der of this verse see verse 16 of this chapter. 

* And Arthur Murphy observes, in his notes on the persecution raised against the 
Christians by Nero, that when the Jews were ordered by Claudius to depart from Rome, 
all of that nation who professed themselves followers of Christ were, without distinction, 
included in the number ; but the edict of the emperor was not pointed against the Chris- 
tians. See Acts, 18 : 2. So that, as the dragon could not persecute the church of Christ 
in general, he took a particular method to destroy those of her children who were born 
Jews ; but, thanks be to God, he did not prevail; all his designs were frustrated, and the 
innocent followers of Christ came off more than conquerors through him who loved them 
and gave himself for them. 



REVELATION, 



175 



saints and to overcome them : and power was given him 
over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, 
whose names are not written in the book of life of the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 

9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 



of the old and feeble, who could not 
escape very readily from Judea and 
Jerusalem in the siege of it. See Dan. 
11 : 33. But this may refer to the 
persecution under Nero.* 

And power was given him over all 
kindreds. That is, he had now do- 
minion or civil power over the Jews. 
Kindreds invariably refer to the Jew- 
ish tribes. 

And tongues. Foreigners of every 
nation. 

And nations. The Medes, Per- 
sians, Greeks, and the whole Roman 
empire, which extended into every 
part of the world. The pope has 
never had either civil or religious do- 
minion over the whole world. The 
Jews, Turks, Mahomedans, Chinese, 
Hindostanese, have never put them- 
selves under the wings of the See of 
Rome. They are the same yester- 
day, to-day, and for ever. And 
though the Roman Catholics are 



scattered into every part of the world, 
yet the pope never had spiritual domi- 
nion over every part of it. 

8 All that dwell on the earth shall 
worship him. Shall fear, reverence, 
obey and serve him, and swear alle- 
giance to him, except Christians, who 
are invincible. One shall chase a 
thousand heathen, and two put ten 
thousand to flight, without powder or 
ball, sword or pistol ; and this with 
the rams' horns of faith and prayer. 
Christians would rather die than de- 
ny their Lord and Master, and sacri- 
fice to a dumb idol.f 

The Lamb slain from the founda- 
tion of the world. The moment Adam 
sinned, Christ suffered prospectively. 
He then offered his life a ransom for 
all, to be testified in due time. He 
died, the innocent for the guilty, to 
bring us to God. His blood was then 
shed in the shadow, but afterwards 
in substance, on Mount Calvary. 



* This does not mean that he should subdue them by the power- of his arms, but merely 
that he should wear out some of the saints of the Most High through fatigue and hunger. 
See Dan. 7 : 25. 

t They shall be compelled to honor him, and to pay their addresses to him in as hu- 
miliating a manner as they would to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Moses had 
foretold the Jews long before this that this should be the case if they did not obey the 
Lord their God. Deut. 23 : 64. The Christians, when asked to swear by the genius of 
Caesar, and sacrifice to the gods, refused to do it, preferring to suffer the most cruel death 
that could be inflicted, rather than deny their King and their Redeemer, and be guilty of 
idolatry. 



176 



NOTES ON THE 



10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivi- 
ty : he that killeth with the sword, must be killed with 
the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the 
saints. 

11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the 



Without the shedding of this there 
could be no remission of sins. It is 
this blood alone, and not water bap- 
tism, u which cleanseth from all sin." 

10 He that leadeth into captivity. 
The wicked Jews who led Christ and 
all his followers in every age of the 
world, into prison, bondage, and death, 
shall now be taken captives by the 
Roman army, and sold as slaves for 
life, without the most distant hope of 
redemption. Moses and Aaron can- 
not redeem them, and He that made 
them will not have pity on them. See 
chap. 6 : 16 ; Dent. 28 : 68 ; Jere- 
miah, 34 : 11. 

He that killeth with the sword, must 
be killed with the sword. The Jews 
brought an unjust charge against 
Christ of being an enemy of the go- 
vernment, and now Rome has disco- 
vered that the Jews themselves are 
the most inveterate enemies of the 
government; for they had revolted 
and taken up arms against it. They 
drew the sword, and finally perished 
by it — were cut off by war and 
blood-shed. 

Here is the faith of the saints. 
They had strong confidence in God, 
that as they had kept his command- 
ments, and walked in his ordinances 
blameless, he would, according to his 
promise, deliver them from the hands 
of all their enemies; and he finally 



did do it. Hence captivity came on 
the Jews, because of idolatry, murder, 
and lasciviousness. Pirke Alot, ch. 5, 
sec. 9. They worshipped and served 
the creature more than they served 
the Creator, (Christ,) who is God over 
all, and blessed for even And he sold 
them into Egypt, where they had to 
worship wood and stone, the gods of 
the heathen, which they nor their 
fathers never knew. They murdered 
their Messiah, shed his innocent blood 
in Jerusalem, and God caused the 
blood of the whole nation to be shed 
as a just retaliation. It ran down the 
streets of the city like a mighty tor- 
rent, until the fire of the houses was 
quenched by it. They were guilty of 
whoredom, adultery, fornication, and 
all manner of lasciviousness, and 
they were burnt alive, as a just pun- 
ishment. 

11 Another beast. That is Titus, 
Vespasian's son. Beasts in general 
mean heathen kings and emperors. 

Coming up out of the earth. Rising 
gradually, step by step, out of the Ro- 
man empire ; creeping up slowly into 
power like his father, until he became 
general of the army, and finally em- 
peror of Rome. But the earth may 
mean Judea. It was here (by his 
victories) he raised himself to honor. 

Two horns. This may mean him- 
self and his brother Domiteah, who 



REVELATION. 



177 



earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as 
a dragon. 

12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast 
before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell 
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound 
w r as healed. 

13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire 



were both kings prospectively, or it 
may mean his two generals, aid-de- 
camps in the war.* 

Like a lamb. Mild, conciliating, 
they were desirous of ending the war, 
if possible, without shedding human 
blood. " He (Titus) was mild in peace, 
powerful in war." — Suetonius. 

He spake as a dragon. With great 
power and authority, as much so as 
the emperor himself. 

12 He exerciseth all the power of 
the first heast. That is, he took the 
place of his father in the army, and 
the father took the place of Nero in 
the empire, so that he had now un- 
limited power to carry on the war 
in Judea. 

And he causeth the earth. The 
whole Roman empire, to worship, 



serve, honor, and obey his father, and 
even sacrifice to him as a god. 

Whose deadly wound was healed. 
See v. 3. This shows that the beast 
that was wounded is the same one 
named in the 2d verse. 

13 And he doeth great wonders. 
Great military exploits. His father 
trained him in military tactics from his 
youth. But the wonders here may be 
pretended miracles, for which his fa- 
ther was so famous. His father and 
himself tried to imitate all Christ's 
miracles, because so highly applaud- 
ed throughout the empire. His object 
was to ridicule Christ, and bring his 
religion into disrepute. He was well 
versed in the art of magic. His 
grand-son, the pope, understands this 
well also.f 



* Who these two horns were is not easy to determine ; but they were either two go- 
vernors, or else two generals of the army, who were in authority under him ; and no doubt 
Tiberias Alexander, who had been formerly governor of Alexandria, was one of the horns. 
This man was a general of the army under Titus ; and Josephus observes that he also 
followed Titus as a counsellor, and was very useful to him in this war, both by his age and 
skill in such affairs. See War, book 5, 1 : 6. Very probable Titus is considered as one 
of the horns himself; or it is not improbable that John, by the other horn, meant Agrippa. 
See Acts, 26 : 28. 

t The first wonderful work that he determined to accomplish was to raise a wall round 
about the city of Jerusalem, which was completed in three days, And this wall, as Jo- 

83 



178 NOTES ON THE 

come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 



This is the very person called by 
St. Paul the man of sin, or the vile 
man. Arab, rasa. The slanderer, i. e. 
of our Savior. Daniel calls him the 
son of the king of the north. Chap. 
11 : 11. Hence, with the rod of his 
month, and breath of his (Messiah's) 
lips, he shall consume ;s>rh the vile 

or wicked man. See Isaiah, 11 : 4. 
The Targum on this passage is per- 
fectly clear and explicit. The "wick- 
ed Armilius, the tenth emperor of 



Rome." Titus Vespasian, beyond 
doubt, who was such. 

The Rabbins invariably call him 
Titus ra-sha, the vile, wicked Ti- 
tus. St. Paul calls him the same. 
The wicked, whom the Lord shall 
subdue by the brightness of his com- 
ing. 2 Thes. 2:8. He was called 
such, because an idolater and enemy 
of God and his people — the destroyer 
of his temple and the holy city. St, 
Paul quotes the very words of Da- 



sephus observes, was thirty-nine furlongs in length, and was strengthened with thirteen 
forts, at proper distances from each other. See Josephus, War, book 5, 12. And the 
next work was to batter down the three walls which nearly surrounded the whole city. 
He began by battering down the first, which, after much fatigue and danger, he accom- 
plished ; and five days after the commencement of the siege he broke through the second 
wall, and then made preparations for battering down the third wall, which he effected, 
but not without great labor, for he had to raise several batteries for the engines, which 
were no sooner built than thrown down by the Jews ; till at length he resolved to raise 
banks round about the new city. After which he made himself master of the whole, and 
then completed the victory on the part of the Romans. Dr. Lardner remarks, that Titus, 
by his father's directions and counsels, had subdued the Jewish nation and destroyed Je- 
rusalem, which had never been destroyed by any generals, kings, or people, before. 

Tacitus, speaking of Vespasian, says, "that a certain man of the vulgar sort, at 
Alexandria, well known because of the loss of his sight, kneeled down by him, and 
groaned and begged of him the cure of his blindness, by the admonition of Serapis, the 
god that that nation worshipped ,■ he also desired that the emperor would be pleased to 
put some of his spittle upon the balls of his eyes. The emperor complied with his re- 
quest, and it is said he cured the man of his blindness. Another man in the same place, 
who was lame of his hand, prayed him, as by the same god's suggestion, to trode upon 
him with his foot. Vespasian at first began to laugh at him, but afterward tread upon 
his foot, and it is said he cured the man. See Tacitus, vol. 3, p. 20. And though there 
are many who affirm this to be true, yet if there were double the number, I should not 
credit them. Suetonius observes, that Vespasian returned to Rome with the advantage 
of a mighty fame for the miraculous cures he had wrought. But opening his mouth in 
blasphemy against God may mean that he spake blasphemously against our Savior, for 
Daniel said that he should speak words against the Most High. See chap. 7 : 25. Some 
have endeavored to prove that the beast here has reference to the pope ; but they are 
mistaken, for it never was designed to represent the pope ; and though he is bad enough, 



REVELATION. 179 

14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by 



niel. Hence he shall become great, 
and distinguish himself above eve- 
ry other god, (heathen,) and shall 
speak wonderful (blasphemous) things 
against the God (Christ) of Elohim. 
He was to cast down the sanctuary, 
destroy the holy people, and take 
away the daily sacrifice for ever, and 
then to be worshipped as God in that 
very temple. Mahomed, the pope, 
or Napoleon Bonaparte, were never 
worshipped there nor in the church of 



Christ, by any genuine Christian. 
The man of sin, therefore, must have 
been a heathen, and Titus Vespasian 
is that very person. The Romans 
styled him and his brother "our lord, 
god, the divine Titus." — Suetonius. 

He maketh fire come down from 
heaven. He made his soldiers be- 
lieve that he could command the 
Deity to send fire from heaven to 
consume the city of Jerusalem.* 

14 He deceiveth them thai dwell on 



and takes too much upon him, yet we ought not to make him out worse than he really 
is. That he professes to be endowed with supernatural power, to work miracles, is 
evident ; but that he never has attempted a miracle in his own name, is equally evident, 
but in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And our Savior has said 
that " he that doeth a miracle in my name, cannot speak lightly, blasphemously, of me." 
See Mark, 9 : 3, 9. But Vespasian, if he did a miracle, it was in his own name, and not 
in the name of our Savior ; and of course the glory was ascribed to him, and not to Jesus 
Christ. But I am inclined to think, if he attempted it, it was with an intention to lessen 
the glory of Christ, and make him more contemptible in the eyes of the world. But we 
never have heard that the emperor raised the dead to life, caused the deaf to hear, and 
the dumb to speak ; neither did he ever cast out devils, nor cleanse lepers. But Daniel 
puts the matter beyond dispute, and shows clearly that the beast was a heathen, and 
not the pope, for he says, " I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed 
and given to the burning flame." See chap. 7:11; 20 : 10. 

* He professed to be endued with supernatural power to consume the Jews. By fire 
here we are to understand the wrath of God. Luke, 9 : 54. That he was assisted by 
God himself, to conquer and utterly destroy the Jews, no person of reason will deny. 
Take the words of Titus here, in the speech he made to his soldiers after he had battered 
down the first wall of the city : " As to our misfortunes," says he, " they have been owing 
to the madness of the Jews, while their sufferings have been owing to your valor and to 
the assistance God hath afforded you ; for as to the seditions they have been in, and the 
famine they are under, and the siege they now endure, and the fall of their walls, without 
our engines — what can they all be but demonstrations of God's anger against them, and 
of his assistance afforded us." See Josephus, War, book 6, 1 : 5. Before they went to 
war with the Romans, the eastern gate of the temple, which had been with great difficul- 
ty 6hut by twenty men, was seen to open of its own accord about the sixth hour of the 
eight. This gate was made of solid brass, and very heavy ; it rested on a basis armed 



180 NOTES ON THE 

the means of those miracles which he had power to do 



the earth. The more ignorant, the 
more superstitious the people will be, 
and the more credulous and easy to 
be imposed on. This is the reason 
why papal Rome has managed to 
keep her people together so long. 
She keeps them in profound ignorance 
in order to impose on their credulity, 
viz. by false miracles, and false doc- 



trines, and pompous appearances. But 
she never has wrought a true mira- 
cle, and never will while the world 
lasts ; because she has not the mira- 
cle- working power, even in the con- 
version of sinners. The glory has 
departed 1000 years since, and she 
now glories in the shame of her na- 
kedness.* 



■with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep in the floor, and the floor in the place where 
the bolts went down was one entire stone. This denoted, as some of themselves allowed f 
that their security was gone, and that God, by his mighty power, had opened their gate 
to let their enemies in. This nation was the greatest enemy the Christians had to combat 
with. It was by their means, and through their influence, that they were so much perse- 
cuted ; so that our Savior, by his mighty power, permitted them to proceed no farther. \ 
* The many powerful victories he had gained, and the many dangers he had passed 
through unhurt, made his soldiers think him a god, and not man. And not only this, but 
he made his soldiers believe that all who died in the field of battle would be happy. While,, 
on the other hand, all who died a natural death must be miserable. Take his own words 
here. He says, what man of virtue is there who does not know, that those souls which 
are severed from their fleshly bodies in battle, by the sword, are received by the ether ? 
that purest of elements, and joined to that company which are placed among the stars— 
that they become good demons and propitious heroes, and show themselves as such to 
their posterity afterwards. While upon those souls that wear away in, and with, their 
distempered bodies, comes a subterraneous night, to dissolve them to nothing, and a deep 
oblivion to take away all the remembrance of them, and this, notwithstanding they may be 
clean from all the spots and defilements of this world. There can be no doubt that this 
is the very person St. Paul calls the man of sin, in 2 Thess. chap. 2 1 3. A few remarks 
on this important chapter will not be amiss. 

Verse 1. — " Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christy 
and by our gathering together unto him." 

Now we beseech you, brethren. — We exhort you, brethren, or earnestly intreat you. .* 
By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. — That is, to judge the Jews at the present. 
This epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians is allowed to have been written before Jerusa- 
lem was destroyed; and from what is said in verses 11, 12, of this chapter, it is beyond 
doubt, that the coming of Christ here had reference to his coming to judge the Jews at 
the present, and not the world in general at the last day. The Rabbins say the Messiah 
will appear three times in the world : — 1, To save the world ; 2. To destroy Jerusalem s 
and 3. To destroy the world in general. 



REVELATION, 181 

in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell 



Those miracles which he had power 
to do in presence of the beast. He 
had every thing necessary to carry- 
on the war, and to make himself vic- 
torious wherever he went. 



Should make an image to the beast. 
In order to have it placed among the 
gods, and constitute his father a Ro- 
man deity. This was considered a 
mark of the highest respect, an ho- 



And by our gathering together unto him. — This may mean the gathering norne of the 
twelve apostles themselves to Christ, after their dissolution; or it may mean the gather- 
ing together of the church to Christ himself, in order to be protected from the power of 
the Roman army. He bore them up on eagles' wings, till he carried them into the wilder- 
ness, where he protected them from the power of the destroyer. 

Verse 2. — " That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor 
by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." 

That ye be not soon shaken in mind. — That is, that your faith, hope, and confidence in 
God, be not destroyed, neither by deceivers, nor by the heavy calamities which are now 
coming on the world. 

Or be troubled. — With fear, lest that you should be destroyed as well as the Jews. 

Neither by spirit. — This may mean their sorrow of heart, leBt what is expressed above 
should come upon them ; or it may have reference to the inward teachings of the Holy 
Spirit, testifying to them that the Jewish world was now coming to an end. 
| Nor by word. — This may mean the ministry of the word, or it may mean private 
conversation. 

Nor by Utter as from us. — He earnestly intreats them not to be troubled nor affrighted 
from any of these sources, viz. from any revelation which should hereafter be made to 
them by the Spirit of God, nor from any alarm they should receive from the preaching 
of the gospel, nor from any private letters that they should hereafter receive from the 
apostles, nor even from this present epistle. 

As that the day of Christ is at hand. — That is, the day in which he has promised to 
judge the Jews in righteousness, and to execute his severe wrath on them for their wick- 
edness. See Matt. 24 : 3. If we suppose that by the day of Christ here is meant the 
general judgment, we must believe that St. Paul labored under a great mistake ; for, at 
hand means immediately ; and of course it could not have reference to a period as far 
distant as two thousand years. Neither could it have reference to the day of popish apos- 
tasy, for this, in no sense, could be called the day of Christ, for he did not come then t® 
destroy popery. And I would ask what effect could popery have upon the present church 
of the Thessalonians ; for it was not known in the world until seven hundred years hence, 
and this when the present church was in glory. But what are we to understand by our 
gathering together unto him, (Christ,) as is expressed in the first verse ? Certainly it 
must mean either the apostles, or else the church of the Thessalonians ; and we cannot 



1S2 



NOTES ON THE 



on the earth, that they should make an image to the 



nor which could be conferred on none foreign prince or potentate, but only 

but on kings and conquerors. This to a Roman citizen. 

favor could not be granted to even a I have now before me a Roman 



suppose that this was the time when the apostles or they were gathered home to Christ. 

Verse 3. — " Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not~come, except 
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." 

Let no man deceive you by any means. — This is a quotation from Matt. 24:4. And 
our Lord in the fifth verse told his disciples in what manner they were most likely to be 
deceived, that is, by false Christs, or men who would come in his name, saying, I am 
Christ. And he said, that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect, that is, 
the church, for all others are the non-elect. The church was in more danger of being de- 
ceived by false Christs and false prophets than by any other means. And we know that 
there never were so many false prophets and false Christs as a short time before the de- 
struction of Jerusalem. 

For that day shall not come. — The day of his severe wrath ; it shall not come upon 
you, for ye are all the children of light. See 1 Thes. 5 : 5. 

Except there come a falling away first. — That is, on your part. You shall not be de- 
stroyed unless you first be deceived by false Christs or false prophets ; and by this means 
your faith be overturned, your confidence in God lost, and your hope in Christ destroyed. 

And that man of sin be revealed.— 'That is, Titus, the general of the Roman army. So 
that except they had fallen away, and he had appeared in Jndea, there was no possibility 
of their perishing. From this and the above expression, we may easily perceive that he 
was the minister of divine wrath, to execute the vengeance of God on backsliding Israel, 
and backsliding Christians. But why is he called the man of sin 1 St. Paul explains this 
himself, and this in the following manner : 

1. He was the son of perdition, or of the destroyer. 

2. He opposed and exalted himself above God. 

3. He suffered himself to be worshipped as God. 

4. He sat in the Jewish temple of God, where he ought not to set. 
. 5. His coming was after the working of satan. 

5. He has to come with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. 

6. And lastly, he was to come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that 
perish, viz. the Jewish nation. 

Verse 4. — " Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is 
worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he 1 is 
God." 

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God.— Whether the apos- 
tele mean3 his opposition to the gospel during the Jewish war, or his opposition to God. or 



REVELATION, 183 

beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 



medal of Vespasian, struck off by 
his son Titus shortly after his father 
became emperor. The head is large, 
the forehead projecting, the mouth 
small, the eye sharp, penetrating ; 



the countenance open, candid, fixed, 
firm, inflexible. The whole indicat- 
ing a person of deep thought, quick 
penetration, strong resolution or de- 
termination to carry out his plans. A 



his being opposed to the Jews, is not easy to determine ; but it was undoubtedly the cause 
of his exaltation. So that I am inclined to think it has reference to his opposition to the 
Jews. The wonderful works which he accomplished in the siege and taking of Jerusalem 
was the cause of his being so highly honored, and such high titles conferred on him, which 
titles ought to be conferred on God alone, and not upon a sinful worm of the earth. But 
he undoubtedly must have been an opposer of the work of God, according to the character 
given of him by the apostle in this chapter. 

Or that is worshipped. — That is, as God, or that is honored or adored as such. 

So that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God. — The temple here must be understood 
either literally or spiritually, i. e. the temple of Jerusalem, or else the church of Christ. 
The apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, ye are the temple of God. And again, ye are 
Christ's, and Christ is God's, and your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. See 1 Cor, 
6 : 19 ; chapter 11 : 1 of this book, and the reference there. 

Therefore the temple of God, spiritually, means the church of Christ, not an apostate 
church, for this is the church of the devil ; but a congregation of believers, among whom 
Christ himself dwells, and in whose hearts he rules and reigns as the Lord God of every 
motion. Therefore, where he rules and reigns in the hearts of any particular congrega- 
tion, they are his church, and the pope can never have any pre-eminence over that congrega° 
tion, neither will they worship him, nor suffer him to have a seat among them. 

But if we understand the temple literally, then the n an of sin must have sat in the tem- 
ple of God at Jerusalem. See Luke, 1 : 9. And he must have been worshipped there as 
God himself; and this was undoubtedly the case. Take the words of Josephus here 5 
And now, says he, the Roman?, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon 
the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the bi ildings round about it, brought their 
ensigns to the temple, and set them over against the eastern gate, and there did they offer 
sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclama- 
tions of joy. See War, book 6, 6. 

Showing himself that he is God.— By sitting in the temple of God, and being wor- 
shipped there as God, and having divine honor conferred upon him, which was due to God 
alone, and not to man, for the Almighty was the conqueror, and not Titus. 

Verse 6. — 11 And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his 
time." 

And now ye know what withholdeth. —That is, you know the cause why he is kept 
back, because the measure of their iniquity is not yet full ; this he had explained to them 



184 



NOTES ON THE 



15 And he had power to give life unto the image of 
the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, 
and cause that as many as would not worship the image 
of the beast should be killed. 



gentleman present observed to me, 
why, sir, he is the very image of 
Dean Swift. And probably he was 
just such another genius as the Dean. 

15 Had power to give life to the 
image of the beast. That is, he was 
authorized by law to give existence to 
it, place it among the other deities, and 
cause it to be worshipped, adored, 
reverenced. 

Should speak. By public procla- 
mation.* 

As many as should not worship the 
tmage of the beast. That is, bow down, 
worship, serve, obey, fear, reverence, 



swear by, and sacrifice to it literally. 

Should be killed. As dishonoring 
the emperor and his idol. Daniel, 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 
would not do it. Christ and his mil- 
lion of disciples would not do it ; and 
the emperor dare not put them to 
death for refusing it. The most in- 
fluential men in the empire had now 
become favorable, and many of them 
converted to Christianity. And as 
Nero lost the empire because of his 
unjust persecution of the Christians, 
Vespasian was rather afraid to ven- 
ture a second game of this kind ; for 
it might prove a losing one to him.f 



in his former epistle. See chap. 2 : 16. God as yet had not sent them a strong delusion 
to believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, (that Jesus is 
the Christ,) but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So now the reader has had some light 
on the man of sin, and to proceed any farther with this chapter is unnecessary. 

* There were many superstitious notions among the heathens respecting their gods. 
They thought they could hear, speak, protect, and communicate with those who con- 
sulted them. See verse 6. But the image of the beast speaking may mean that the law 
should compel the whole Roman empire to worship the image of the emperor. There 
is a very near connection between this verse and Daniel 3 : 1-4. 

f A Christian could not be compelled to worship a graven image, nor sacrifice to any 
other God but the living and true God. Some are of the opinion that the beast spoken 
of in the first verse is the pope, and the beast spoken of in the eleventh verse one of his 
successors. But this cannot be, for the image of the beast was a likeness or represen- 
tation of the beast himself, and not that of another. An image was made and sacrificed 
to in honor of almost all the emperors, and this while living ; but sometimes it did not 
take place until after death. See verse 1. And for more on this subject see Suetonius 
in Vespasian, sec. 24. This author says that there was placed in the golden house, for- 
merly called Transitoria, a monstrous statue of Nero himself, an hundred and twenty 
feet in height, and the extent of it such that it had triple porticos a mile in length. See 
his life of Nero, sec. 51, Caius Caligula, in his reign, sent his statue to Jerusalem, to 



REVELATION. 



16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and 
poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, 
or in their foreheads ; 



great. Young and must all swear allegiance to him. 

old, rich and poor, bond and free, A mark. A token of their citizen* 

servants and slaves. A new emperor ship. The heathens always put a 

was now crowned, and the people mark of the idol which they worship- 



have it set up in the temple ; on which a tumultuous clamor took place among the Jews, 
They threw themselves down upon their faces, and stretching out their necks, said they 
would sooner suffer their throats to be cut than see their laws broken. This they con- 
tinued to do for forty days. In the mean time they broke off from all their labors, and 
the tilling of the ground, and this at a time when their seed had to be sown ; until at last 
the statue had to be removed. And again Herod, the son of Antipater, in his reign, or- 
dered a golden eagle to be placed over the great gate of the Jewish temple, at which they 
were greatly provoked, and a great number of young men having got together, some of 
them let themselves down with ropes from the top of the temple, and cut the eagle down 
with an axe ; preferring to suffer the most cruel death rather than witness the violation of 
their laws. And Herod, hearing that the eagle had been cut down, was greatly enraged, 
and ordered the young men, and the Rabbins who influenced them to do it, to be burnt 
alive. If an uncircumcised Jew in heart was so far enlightened as to know that it was 
contrary to the word of God to worship any image that had reference to God, or to any 
created being, how much more enlightened were the angels of the seven churches, and 
the four and twenty elders, with the vast number spoken of in the succeeding chapter, 
(11th verse,) to know that when they worshipped Christ they worshipped him as God, 
and not as man. The Christians, when asked to swear by the genius of Caesar, and sa- 
crifice to the gods, refused, preferring to be burnt alive at the stake, or be thrown to wild 
beasts to be devoured, sooner than be guilty of idolatry. But if Christ be no more than 
a created being, and they worshipped him as such, they were guilty of the most gross idol- 
atry ; and consequently, all who died worshipping him must be lost, for no idolater hath 
any inheritance in the kingdom of God. See 1 Cor. 6:9; Acts, 8 : 9. 

We know that there are some things prophecied of here that were not fulfilled until 
A. D. 74 or 75, namely, that of Titus causing all the Roman empire, both rich and poor, 
free and bond, to receive a mark in the right hand, or in their foreheads, which must refer 
to the above date, when he began to enrol the Roman citizens. Suetonius observes that 
he bore the office of censor together with his father ; and he was also his father's colleague 
in the tribunitian authority, and seven consulships; and taking upon him the care and in- 
spection of all offices whatever, he dictated letters, and wrote proclamations in his father's 
name, and repeated his speeches in the senate in room of the quaestor. See Suetonius in 
Titus. But we need not think strange of St. John making use of the number six hundred 

24 



186 



NOTES ON THE 



17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that 
had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of 
his name. 

18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hatli understanding 



ped on some part of the body, either 
the hand or the face, where it could 
be visible. See Maimonides. 

That no man might buy or sell. 
That is, buy real estate, or convey it, 
unless he had this evidence of his 
citizenship. 

Or the name o f the beast. That is, 
the name of a Roman citizen or sol- 
dier. Soldiers were called the children 
of Vespasian.* 

Or the number of his name. May 
mean the age of the beast. All over 
65 years of age were exempt be- 
cause unfit for service, and not likely 
to injure the government. 

18 It is the number of a man. And 
not of a kingdom or empire, and 
therefore Daniel's beast must be a 
man, a king, and a conqueror. 

And his number is six hundred six- 
ty and six. 1. This may mean his 
age, sixty-six years and six hundred 



days. This would bring him, at the 
time when he was declared emperor, 
between sixty-seven and sixty-eight 
years of age. Suetonius calls Vespasian 
an old man. When declared emperor, 
he applied the same expression to 
Galba when 70. Titus died after a 
reign of two years and two months, 
in the seventy-ninth year of the 
christian era. This would leave Ves- 
pasian, his father, 76 years and eight 
months old when he died ; deduct the 
nine years of his reign from this, and 
then at the time he was declared 
emperor he must have been sixty- 
seven. There is a typographical error 
to a certainty, in Suetonius, in saying 
he was only sixty-nine when he 
died. If Titus, as he asserts, died 
in the year of 79, then his father 
must have been sixty-seven when 
declared emperor ; for Titus reigned 
only a little better than two years. 



and sixty- six to represent the age of the beast, for this was a usual mode of reckoning 
among the Jews. We find pretty much the same language made use of by Daniel, to 
represent the time of the war between the Jews and Romans, or how long it should be 
from the time that the war began under Floris until the daily sacrifice should be taken 
away, and the sanctuary and host trodden under foot. See Dan. 8:14. 

* This is the same as the mark of the beast in their forehead. So that those who had 
the name of the beast, or were named after him, were his soldiers, who no doubt were 
called the sons of Vespasian, as being trained up by him in war. Claudius, the Roman 
emperor, is styled the father of Vespasian, and he his son, because he had fought under 
him, and had gained so many victories for him. See Josephus, War, book 3, 1 : 2, and 
Suetonius in Vespasian. 



REVELATION. 187 

count the number of the beast : for it is the number of a 



2. This may refer to the number 
of Vespasian's image, 666 ; for the 
heathen deities were all numbered 
and registered in a book. 3. It may 
more probably refer to the Rab- 
binical name of the beast IVt^v 1 
£33^*1 3 ha-a vad don be-ro-ma-nos : 
the destroyer of Rome, or as Jere- 
miah has it, the destroyer of the Gen- 
tiles. The beast who was to desolate 
and lay waste Jerusalem. Hence the 
numerals of his name. 

! 300 50 40 6 200 2 50 6 4 2 1 5 
Total 666. 

A learned Rabbi called to see me 
lately, who heard that I was writing 
notes on the Revelations. He wished, 
he observed, to help me to a better 
understanding of the mystical num- 
ber of the beast. He assured me 
the number could not be traced out 
in any other name but that of SEh 
"J^B Jesus of Nazareth. When I 
showed him the above name, and the 
exact number 666, he was astonish- 
ed. Besides, these letters make only 
the number 647. I asked him if Jesus 



of Nazareth had seven heads and ten 
horns — seven emperors and ten kings 
in his dominion? He replied, no. I 
asked him again, whether Christ or 
Titus destroyed Jerusalem ? He re- 
plied, Titus. Was Christ the seventh 
emperor of Rome ? He answered, no. 
I then inquired, if he was a temporal 
or spiritual king? Spiritual, he re- 
plied. Then he could not be this 
beast ; for he was a king literally. 
This, therefore, not only shows the 
blindness of their minds, but the en- 
mity of their hearts, to our beloved 
Redeemer. 

A triumphal ark was erected to 
Titus, in honor of his conquest of 
Jerusalem, on which was inscribed — - 

SENATUS 
POPULUSQUE 
ROMANUS 
DIVO TITO DIVI VESPASIAN J5 
VESPASIANO AUGUSTUS.* 

The senate and people of Rome 
to the divine Titus, son of the divine 
Vespasian, and to Vespasian the 
emperor. 

This very clearly shows that the 



* That the beast was a man, and not an empire, as some suppose. And if a man, he 
must have been a king, literally or spiritually, for Daniel calls him a horn, and both he 
and St. John explain horns to be kings ; and all these horns are said to belong to the one 
kingdom, and this in the time of the little horn. And as heads in this book and the book 
of Daniel mean kings who had received kingdoms, and horns, kings who had received no 
kingdoms as yet, it necessarily follows that the heads could not mean popes. And if the 
beast spoken of in the first verse, which Daniel calls the little horn, is the pope, then the 
other nine horns must also mean nine popes, and must all have reigned at the same time, 
and this when the beast spoken of in the first verse had been living. And not only so, but 
three of these popes must have been dethroned and subdued in the time of the beast spo- 



188 



NOTES ON THE 



man ; and his number is six hundred threescore and six. 



people of Rome deified all their em- 
perors. He was styled also Titus, our 
lord god. See Suet, in Domitian. 

The name of a Roman, says Bi- 
shop Liutprand, includes every thing 



that is base, vile, perfidious, and eve- 
ry vice that can debase the dignity of 
human nature. So that it is utterly 
impossible to apply this chapter, or 
any of the preceding parts of this 



ken of above. See Dan. 7:8; see verse 3 of tbis chapter. But what are we to understand 
by the number of his name 1 Certainly the name of the beast, which is Vespasian, can- 
not mean 666 ; neither does the name of any of the popes signify it. Nor could it mean 
the Roman empire, for the beast was a man and not an empire, and the name was that of 
the man himself, and not the name of the empire to which he belonged. But some have 
gone so far as to give him three names: Romith, a Roman; but St. Paul was a Roman, 
and we know that he was not the beast ; and Lateinos, the Latin man ; but as every Ro- 
man was a Latin man, it is as applicable to the Romans in general as to one individual. 
Augustus and Tiberius were Latin men,, and men better versed in this language than the 
pope, and yet neither of them was the beast. But the third name or title given to him 
is Vicarius Filii Dei, Vicar of the Son of God ; but as every minister stationed in any 
particular parish is the vicar of it, it is as applicable to him as to the pope. And th& 
number of the beast, according to the following system, may be sought for and found in any 
©f the above characters, as well as in the pope. 



Hebrew Name. 
R 200 
OorV 6 
M 40 
I 10 
I 10 
TH 400 
» . 

666 



Greek Name. 



Latin Name. 



30 
1 

300 
5 
10 
50 
70 

200 

666 



V 
I 
C 
A 
R 
I 
U 

s 

F 

I 

L 

I 

I 

D 

E 

I 



5 
1 

100 



1 

50 
1 
1 

500 



666 t 



* This name is neither Hebrew, Greek, nor Latin, 
t That is, six hundred days and sixty-six years, which brings the beast's age at this 
time to sixty-seven years and eight months, viz. according to the Jewish year, which was 



REVELATION, 



189 



book, to the Pope of Rome. That lie 
is bad enough we all admit ; but that 
he is a heathen idolater, we cannot 
admit. Christian charity would forbid 
this; and besides, some of the popes 
were moral men that feared God. 



But the generality of them were 
wicked men, who neither feared God 
nor regarded man. But the character 
here is peculiar and personal, and can 
be found in no single individual but 
Titus and his father Vespasian. 



360 days. And that this was the number of days in their year is sufficiently plain from 
the twelve hundred and sixty days spoken of in chapter 11:3, which signify three years 
and a half. John, in the chapter and verse quoted, uses pretty much the same language 
to represent the space of time that the two witnesses should have to prophesy, as he does 
here to represent the age of the beast. But the most likely and safe method is the inter- 
pretation given to his name, viz. the destroyer of Rome, or destroyer of the Gentiles, 



CHAPTER XIV. 



AND I looked, and lo a lamb stood on mount Sion, and 
with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his 
Father's name written in their foreheads. 



1 Mount Sion. The church of 
the living God. "VfaS! from T? to 
protect, defend, save. Hence the 
mount of protection and salvation, 
Christ, now stood at the head of his 
church, to protect and save his people 



from the hand of their enemies. Zion 
literally was going to be plowed up 
as a field, and the temple utterly de- 
stroyed. Yet the spiritual Zion 
was preserved and protected from 
her most vile enemy. They were 



190 



NOTES ON THE 



2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of 
many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder : and I 
heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps : 

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the 
throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders : and no 



sealed or made safe and secure.* 

One hundred and forty-four thou- 
sand. See chap. 7 : 4. 

Their Father's name written in 
their foreheads. Holiness to the Lord 
was visible in their countenance, con- 
duct, life, conversation. They were 
Christ-like in appearance. 

2 A voice from heaven. From the 
heaven on earth. They were singing, 
shouting, and praising God and the 
Lamb. They were all on the wing 
for glory. The dragon was now dead, 
and the time of their deliverance 
from spiritual bondage at hand. 

Many waters. Loud, solemn, terri- 



fying to her enemies. The waters, in 
general, in this book, mean nations 
and multitudes of people, who, no 
doubt, had now renounced idolatry 
and embraced Christianity. 

Of great thunder. Shouts of vic- 
tory through the blood of the Lamb. 

Harpers harping. Singing praises 
to God and the Lamb, because of 
their great deliverance. They had 
now passed through the fled Sea, 
and were safe on the other side 
Jordan, and within sight of Pisgah. 

3 They sung a new song. That 
is, redeeming grace and dying love. 
They were sure that neither, 



* Part of this chapter has reference to about the year of our Lord 76, when peace was 
established throughout the world, and when all the commotions and disasters throughout 
the world had nearly come to an end. At this period the church of Christ had been collected 
together from the different parts of the world into which it was scattered by the war be- 
tween the Jews and Romans. 

Mount Sion, spiritually, derived its name from Mount Zion literally, i. e. the upper city 
of Jerusalem, which was called by this name. The city itself was built on two hills, and 
one was higher and more direct than the other ; the highest hill was called mount Zion, 
and the lowest hill was called Acra. The former contained the strongest and most elegant 
buildings of the two. There were three towers in the upper city, Phasaelus, Hippicus, 
and Mariamne, which were so strong that they never could be destroyed by an engine. 
See Josephus, War, book 6, 8 : 4. St. John compares the church to Mount Zion because 
her faith, holiness, strength, and stability, exceeded that of the Jews much more than the 
upper city of Jerusalem did that of the lower. See Heb. 12 : 22 ; Matt. 5 : 14. And 
our Savior standing on mount Zion is a figurative mode of expression, to show that he is 
the head of the church ; his divinity was in heaven and his humanity on the earth at this 
time. 



/ 



REVELATION, 19l 

man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and 
four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 

4 These are they which were not defiled with women ; 
for they are virgins. These are they which follow the 



Jordan's streams 

Nor death's cold flood, 

Should fright them from the shore. 

See chap. 5: 9. The redeemed of 
the Lord had now returned to Zion 
with songs of deliverance, and ever- 
lasting joy was on their heads, and 
sorrow and sighing had for ever fled 
away. 

No man could learn that song. 
None but the redeemed of the Lord, 
children of the spiritual and heavenly 
kingdom, can sing redeeming grace 
and dying love. The formalist may 
try to imitate it, but it will prove a 
failure in the end. Neither the choir 
nor the chorister can do it, unless they 
sing with the spirit and undemand- 
ing also.* 

4 Were not defiled with women. 
With idolatrous nations and heathen- 
ish practices. Women, in this book, 
frequently represent nations, fallen 



and corrupt churches. See verse 8, 
chap. 2 : 20. These hundred and 
forty-four thousand Christians were 
not corrupted by the world, the flesh, 
nor the devil ; for they are virgins. 
Pure, unspotted, holy, they walked 
in all the commandments and ordi- 
nances of the Lord blameless, were 
Israelites in whom is no guile. They 
were without fault before God, v. 5. 
Pure in his eyes, though vile in the 
eyes of the world. " That which is 
highly esteemed among men, is an 
abomination in his sight." What man, 
therefore, will be so presumptuous as 
to condemn what God justifies. Shall 
we say these Christians were im- 
pure, when God himself declares 
them to be without fault ? Virgin is 
a title applied to the Jewish church, 
and here St. John applies it to the 
Christian church. Isa. 27 : 22. f 
Being the first fruits unto God and 



* None could learn to sing this song but those who had found redemption in the blood 
of the Lamb, even the forgiveness of all their sins. This song never can be learned by 
art, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy ; nor can it be sung by note, nor by nature ; the 
tune cannot be played on any other instrument but the harp of salvation. 

t This text by no means prohibits marriage, which is honorable in all, minister and 
member ; but second marriages were not allowed to ministers in the days of the apostles, 
and long after their decease. St, Paul would not allow Timothy to take a widow in the 
church list but those who had been the wife of one husband only. See 1 Tim. 5 : 9, 11. 
And that this is the sense in which the primitive fathers of the church have understood 
the above texts of scripture is very evident from Mr. Winston's note on Josephus, Antiq. 
book 18, 6:6; and note, says he, that Tertullian owns this law against second marriages 



192 



NOTES ON THE 



Lamb withersoever he goeth. These were redeemed 
from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to 
the Lamb. 

5 And in their mouth was found no guile : for they are 
without fault before the throne of God. 

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, 



the Lamb. They were the first fruits 
of the Apostle's labors in the minis- 
try, and were converted to God at the 
day of Pentecost. This was only a 
particular out-pouring of the Spirit ; 
but now there is going to be a gene- 
ral out-pouring of it, to prepare the 
church and the ministers for the con- 
version of the whole world. The 
time is at hand, when the wolf, the 
fierce, ferocious, persecuting heathen 
king shall lie down with the lamb ; 
be so humble, so teachable, as to sit 
at the feet of the most poor and de- 
spised follower of Jesus. It is a 
most painful thing to the pious Chris- 
tian to hear so much said about the 
conversion of the world, and see so 
very little done to accomplish it. 
Some ministers try to make the peo- 
ple believe that money is the one 
thing needful. But how did the 
twelve poor fishermen of Galilee 
convert the world ? Surely not by 
money; for they had neither silver 
nor gold. But they had the Lord 
with them, confirming their word 



by signs and wonders following. 
They were holy, zealous, devoted 
men, who were willing not only to 
suffer, but to die for the name of 
Jesus. See Acts, 3:6. Missionaries 
at present are more afraid of dying 
through hunger, than of dying for the 
name of Jesus. One holy minister 
will convert more souls than all the 
wealth of the Universe. It is not 
money we want : it is evangelical 
missionaries of the cross of Christ, 
who are willing to lay down their 
lives for his sake. God grant that 
we may soon have a host of such 
holy men. 

5 For this verse, see verse 4, un- 
der virgins. 

6 Another angel. Missionary mes- 
senger of the church, an apostle, 
either St. John or St. Paul, who 
were general missionaries to the 
church and the world. The ministers 
of the Seven Churches of Asia were 
stationed there for a season. But the 
commission of our Savior to the 
twelve apostles was to preach the 



of the clergy had been once, at least, executed in his time. And Jerome, speaking of 
the ill reputation of marrying twice, says that no such person could be chosen into the 
clergy in his days; which Augustine testifies also ; and for Epiphanius, rather earlier, is 
clear and full to the same purpose, and says that law obtained over the whole catholic 
church in his days. 



REVELATION. 



193 



having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that 



gospel to every creature, and this be- 
fore Jerusalem was destroyed. St. 
Paul was not put to death as yet by ' 
Nero, and was attending to his mis- 
sion. The preaching alluded to here 
took place before Babylon fell, v. 8. 
And judgement had now begun at the 
house of God, as predicted by St. 
Peter. Chap. 4 : 17. See v. 7. Then 
followed the downfal of spiritual Ba- 
bylon ; her ruin, destruction, and final 
overthrow.* 

Having the everlasting gospeL 
The glad tidings of salvation through 
Christ, to a perishing world, viz. that 
in him all the nations of the earth 
shall be made happy. Indeed, there 
is salvation in no other. For " there is 
no other name given under heaven, 
among men, whereby we can be 
saved, but the name of Jesus." Any 
other gospel is not of God, but of 
man. And if you believe man in pre- 
ference to God, you are sure to be 
lost. Therefore, poor sinner, go direct 
To Jesus, in faith and prayer, and 
lie will pardon all your sins. For, 
without this blessing you cannot be 
saved. 



To preach. Proclaim on the house- 
top. To preach, does not mean to 
read other men's sermons, talk flu- 
ently, eloquently, scream aloud as 
some do, shout or to be silent in the 
meeting as others. Oh no! But it 
means, " To raise your voice like a 
trumpet, and show the people their 
transgressions, and the house of Israel 
their sins," (all of them;) and then 
point them directly to Jesus for a free, 
a full, and a present salvation — a sal- 
vation from all sin. If you do this, 
sinners will be converted ; if not, a 
soul will never be converted to God 
under your ministry* Peter, the 
fisherman, without money, learning, 
influence, the bishop's hands, or the 
bishop's parchment, converted thou- 
sands. Have you ever converted one 
soul during the whole of your minis- 
try ? Poor anatoth, what will become 
of you in the clay of judgment? 
What an awful account will you 
then render of your stewardship ? 
Mr. Hill has very accurately pointed 
out the different modes of preaching 
in the following order : 

Bold manner — The man who 



* When Christ sent out his apostles to preadi, he told them to go into all the world , 
and preach, the gospel to every creature and to qualify them, he endued them with 
power from on high to speak sixteen different languages, that every nation might hear 
the gospel preached in their own tongue. And this apostle must have been qualified in 
the same manner, or else he could not preach the gospel to every nation, and kindred, 
and tongue, and people, throughout the world. These qualifications have never been found 
in any other minister of the gospel at least since the second century. And though there 
have been instances of ministers who have acquired different languages, yet it was 
through study and long application, and not through a supernatural power, without any 
study or application to them. But if these ministers have learned to preach the gospel 
in different languages, yet they have not extended their labors so far as personally to 
preach the gospel to every nation, &c. 

25 



194 



NOTES ON THE 



dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and 
tongue, and people, 

7 Sayinor with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory 



preaches what he feels without fear 
or diffidence. 

Self-confident — A man who goes 
bv nobody's judgment but his own. 

Rash — A preacher who says what 
comes uppermost without any con- 
sideration. 

Rambling — A man that says all 
that pops in his mind without any 
connexion. 

gtiff— One who pins himself down 
to think and speak by rule, without 
any deviation. 

Powerful — The man who preaches 
from the bottom of his heart the 
truths of the gospel, with energy to 
the conscience of his hearers. 

Finical — Minces out fine w T ords 
with nothing in them. 

Sober — The man who lulls you 
fast asleep. 

Elegant — The man who employs 
all his brains upon dressing words, 
without even aiming at the heart. 

Conceited — Vainly aims at every 
thing, and says nothing. 

Affectionate — The happy man who 
feels for souls tenderly, preaches 
Christ affectionately, and yearns over 
souls in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 

Dogmatic — A man who goes by 
his own brains, right or wrong. 

Peevish— One who pricks into 
every body's thoughts, and thinks no 
one right but himself. 

Fanciful— One who instead of be- 
ing led by wisdom, runs into a thou- 
sand visionary whimsies and conceits. 

Self-important— Thinks nobody like 
himself. 



Noisy — A loud roar, and nothing 
in it. 

Genteel — The vain fool that is 
fond of dressing up words without 
meaning. 

To every nation, and kindred^ and 
tongue, and people. That is, to eve- 
ry individual on the habitable globe, 
to every son and daughter of Adam. 
Wherever you find a sinner, preach 
Jesus to him as his Savior. Our 
Lord's last command, after his cruci- 
fixion, (and he has not given a new 
one since,) was, " go ye, therefore, 
into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to every creature, baptizing 
them in the name of the holy Trinity, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and 
lo! (says he,) I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world." 
Tell them I have died for all, rose for 
all, and plead for all, and I will final- 
ly judge all at the last day, the righ- 
teous and the wicked. Therefore 
preach the gospel to every man, that 
every man in the day of eternity may 
be without excuse. 

7 Fear God. Who, after he hath 
killed, hath power to send both soul 
and bod}' - to hell. I say unto you, fear 
him, and not man, who can only kill 
the body, but cannot touch the soul. 

And give glory to him. Adore, fear, 
reverence, serve, and obey him, and 
not a poor, ignorant, superstitious 
priest, or a heathen idolater. 

The hour of his judgment is come. 
The time has now come to judge 
the dead nation, who is neither fit 
to live nor fit lo die, and also for 



REVELATION. 



195 



to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : and wor- 
ship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and 
the fountains of waters. 

8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon 
is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all 



judgment to begin at the house of 
God. 

And worship him. Christ, who 
is the Creator and upholder of all 
things, visible and invisible. 

Another angel. That is, of the 
church in Asia. 

8 Babylon is fallen, is fallen. 
She fell from God first, and then into 
the hands of the Roman army, and 
they burned her with fire, because of 
her spiritual whoredoms. She is spi- 
ritually called Babylon as well as 
Sodom, and Egypt by way of con- 
tempt. The Jews abhorred Egypt 
and Babylon, and to humble their 
pride, and bring their cruel bondage 
to their recollection, the prophets fre- 
quently applied these detestable epi- 
thets to them, because applicable as a 
nation. From her long captivity in 
Babylon she acquired not only their 
dialect, but all their idolatrous prac- 
tices ; therefore she is called Babylon, 
from confusion, disorder, dis- 

traction. Isaiah calls Jerusalem the 
city of confusion, chap. 24 : 10, viz. 
of tongues, languages, tribes, inter- 
ests, murders, robberies, factions, and 
fightings. But Ezekiel calls it Chal- 
dee. As this cannot refer to Babylon 
literally, which fell not by conquest 
but rather by decay, 290 years be- 
fore Christ, it must refer either to Je- 
rusalem or Rome. ] . Then, all the 
predictions of the Old Testament 



prophecies, which remained to be 
fulfilled, are applied by our Lord and. 
his apostles to the destruction of Je- 
rusalem. The fact is, they were 
deeply interested in this awful event, 
and they did every thing they could, 
to save their countrymen. See Deut. 
28 : 49-53, 57, 61-68 ; Luke, 21 : 22 ; 
Rev. 1 : 7 ; 11 : 8. 2. Isaiah calls 
Jerusalem Babel, and not Rome. 

3. Jerusalem was the stumbling-block 
in the way of the spread of the gos- 
pel, (Mai. 2:8,) Rome Was not. 
The Romans were far more favora- 
ble to Christianity than the Jews. 
The fact is, they protected the Chris- 
tians from the persecution of the 
Jews. They viewed the religion of 
Jesus as a lovely and pure system — 
the Jews hated and detested it, and. 
used their influence, both in public 
and in private, in church and state, 
to have it rooted out of the earth. 
The persecution of the Christians by 
Nero was instigated by the Jews 
about his court, especially by his 
mistress Popposa, who was a Jewess. 

4. In Jerusalem, not in Rome, was 
found the blood of all the prophets, 
and all the righteous men slain upon 
the earth. Matt. 23 : 35. 5. Jeru- 
salem was destroyed immediately 
after John's return from Patmos. 
Rome did not fall until 700 years 
afterwards ; and it was not a fall, but 
simply a change from a monarchial 



196 



NOTES ON THE 



nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, 



to a republican government. 6. The 
great calamities predicted by our 
Lord, which should precede the fall 
of the one, did not precede the fall of 
the other. Luke, 21 : 10-12, &c. 
7. Jerusalem fell under the reign of 
the seventh emperor of Rome. Rome 
did not fall for several hundred years 
after the Caesars were extinct. Chap. 
17 : 10. 8. The battle of Harmaged- 
den was not fought in Italy, but in 
Judea, a province 200 miles in length ; 
and the battle was fought outside the 
walls of the great city called Sodom 
and Egypt, where our Lord w r as cru- 
cified. 9. A general persecution did 
not precede the downfal of Rome, 
but the persecution of Nero did pre- 
cede the destruction of Jerusalem. 
Matt. 24: 8; chap. 12 : 7-10. 10. Ga- 
briel did not then swear that time 
should be no longer with us Gentiles, 
but he certainly did do it with the 
Jews, a short time before the downfal 
of Jerusalem. Chap. 9:6. 11. In 
the siege of Jerusalem, tremendous 
large stones were thrown into the 



city by the engines of the Roman 
army, weighing sixty pounds each. 
But no such stones were ever thrown 
into Rome by her own army. Chap. 
16:21. 12. Finally, the city was not 
divided, before its fall, into three dif- 
ferent factions, which fought despe- 
rately with each other, but Jerusalem 
was, and this according to the predic- 
tion of Dan. 11 : 14. Therefore Jeru- 
salem, and not Rome, is the mystical 
Babylon of the Revelations. To 
conclude, the Syrian hypothesis that 
Peter wrote his epistle from Jerusa- 
lem, and calls it Babylon,, and in the 
very room where the apostles re- 
ceived the gift of the I3oly Ghost, I 
think highly prohable. No doubt both- 
Peter and John called Jerusalem Ba- 
bylon,, from Is. 24 : 10. And this shows 
clearly, that he was not in Rome at 
this time. 

Had not Titus destroyed the city,, 
the robbers themselves would in a 
short time have done it. Isaiah 13 : 1 ; 
34 : 5.* 

That great city. That large, well- 



* The prophet explains the former chapter by the latter. In the fourth and fifth verses 
of the former chapter he prophesied that the Roman army should come and besiege the 
Jews. He calls them the weapons of the Lord's indignation ; and in the sixth verse he 
calls this day of vengeance the day of the Lord ; and we know that the day of the Lord 
in general means either the destruction of Jerusalem or else the day of judgment. And 
in the tenth verse he says, that " the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not 
give her light." Our Lord ha3 quoted the very words from this chapter and verse, and 
has applied them to the destruction of Jerusalem. Matt. 24 : 29. And in the 11th verse 
it is said that " the Lord should punish the world for their evil." So that when Babylon 
was destroyed, the world must have been destroyed with her, or else the world spoken of 
there must mean the Jews, who are called such in Matt. 24 : 3. And again in the day that 
Babylon was to be destroyed, " the heavens were to be shaken, and the earth removed ou* 



REVELATION. 



197 



9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a 
loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, 
and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 



fortified, wealthy, populous city. Jo- 
seph us calls it a great city. See War, 
book, 7 : 5, 2. David and Jeremiah 
call it the great city. Ps. 60:9; Jer. 
22 : 8 ; St. John calls it the great city. 
Chap. 11:8. So that Babylon is the 
very city that is spiritually called 
Sodom and E gypr, where our Lond 
w r as crucified. 

The wine of her fornication. The 
world was spiritually intoxicated with 
her wealth, grandeur, splendid pa- 
laces, and especially her temple, which 
was the most elegant, costly, superb, 
and splendid building in the world. 
The merchants of the earth became 
rich through her vast wealth and ex- 
penditures. Her fornication, there- 



fore, means her pride, pomp, splen- 
dor, equipage, worldly-mindedness. 
Indeed, she neither feared God nor 
regarded man. She said, "I sit as 
a queen, and shall see no sorrow." 
But God soon brought her pomp down 
in the dust ; for in one night all her 
glory departed from her, and now, 
where is she ? See James, 4 : 4.* 

9 The third angel. The minister, 
no doubt, of the Church of Perga- 
mos. Christ, on this occasion, assigns 
a work to each of them, and they are 
brought forward here in regular suc- 
cession. 

A loud voice. Proclaimed it aloud 
by word, and privately by letter. He 
warned them of their danger. 



of her place." Verse 13. So that if we understand this literally, the heavens must have 
been shaken, and the earth removed out of its place, viz. when Babylon was destroyed, or 
else it must mean the Jews, who are called the heavens and the earth in this book, and in 
different parts of the scripture. See chap. 6 : 12. 13. 

But as Babylon comes from Babel, it must mean the city of confusion. Gen. 10: 10, 
And never was there a city that this name was more applicable to than Jerusalem. See 
chap. 16 : 19, and Isaiah, 24 : 13. But the prophet puts the matter beyond dispute, for 
he calls Jerusalem Babel, or the city of confusion. But the character given of it in this 
book would be applicable to no other city but Jerusalem. See chap. 18 : 24. It is beyond 
all doubt, that either Jerusalem or Rome was called Babylon by the prophets, and this 
by both Isaiah and Jeremiah. So that if the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah had reference 
to Babylon, so had chap. 14 : 8 of Revelation. 

* She polluted or corrupted all nations by her spiritual whoredoms. Her hackslidings 
were not only the cause of her own destruction, but also of many others, who stumbled 
over her into hell. She professed to be the real Israel of God, and her religion to be 
the only true religion on earth ; and yet her wickedness far exceeded that of the heathen 
nations round about her ; so that her unholy example was sufficient to corrupt the world. 



19S 



NOTES ON THE 



10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of 
God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of 
his indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and 
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the 
presence of the Lamb : 



" If any man. Who calls himself a 
Christian.* 

Worship the beast. The heathea 
emperor. Adore, reverence, submit, 
obey, swear allegiance to him, be- 
come a citizen, sacrifice to his image, 
or be branded with his mark, or the 
name of his idol, he shall be cut off, 
destroyed. He has now trampled 
under foot the Son of God, done des- 
pite to the spirit of grace, and count- 
ed the blood of the covenant, where- 
with he was sanctified, an unholy 
thing. Therefore the day of grace 



with him is past. There is no for- 
giveness for such a man. Hence, every 
vessel that has the image of the sun, 
moon, or dragon on it, shall be cast 
into the sea. Tal. Bab. Zara.fol. 422. 
Hence, mp5 Till false heathen 

' T T TT 

worship, is idolatry. f 

10 Which is poured out without 
mixture. That is, of mercy. He that 
has publicly denied Christ, sacrificed 
to an idol, and preferred idolatry to 
Christianity, deserves to die without 
mercy % 

Into the cup of his indignation. 



But as fornication, in the scripture, means either actual or spiritual adultery, it must be 
understood either literally or spiritually; and to understand it literally would be incon- 
sistent with both reason and scripture ; so that it must mean spiritual adultery. And 
no nation can be guilty of this but those who once loved God and his ways, and after- 
wards placed their affections on money and the world more than on their Maker. That 
this was the case with backsliding Israel is very evident. See chap. 18 : 7. 

* This must mean any believer in Christ, for it is said in chapter 13: 8, that all that 
dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life, 
&c. If this, therefore, had reference to those who actually did worship the beast and 
his image, there would have been no possibility of them being saved, according to the 
tenth verse. 

f The Greek word for worship means no more than august or venerable, which title 
the Greeks gave to the Roman emperors. See Bishop Newton on the Man of Sin. So 
that if any believer in Christ renounced his religion, and worshipped the beast in the 
above manner, or even received his mark in his forehead or in. his hand, he had completely 
excluded himself from the kingdom of grace and glory. This is sufficiently clear from 
what follows. 

X The Christian who has renounced his religion, and now pays that honor and respect 
to a heathen emperor that he formerly paid to his King and his Savior, shall have to 
suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, and this according to the law of the Lord. See Ex, 
22 : 20 : Num. 25 : 1-5. 



REVELATION", 



199 



11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for 
ever and ever : and they have no rest day nor night, who 
worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth 
the mark of his name. 



That is, the apostate who has denied 
his Lord and Master before a heathen 
world. Therefore God is indignant, 
and the church indignant with such 
a man. There were but few, how- 
ever, of this stamp to be found in 
the church of Christ. Paul mentions 
two, Alexander and Hymenius, who 
made shipwreck of faith, and put 
away a good conscience, and returned 
to heathenism. He finally gave them 
over to their father the devil, that 
they might not learn to blaspheme. 
1 Tim. 1:20.* 

11 They shall be tormented with, 
fire and brimstone. They shall be de- 
livered over to their father the devil. 
They are his children, and he has full 



power and authority to punish them 
with all the torments of the impeni- 
tent in perdition.f 

They have no rest day nor night. 
In this life, from a guilty conscience ; 
and their worm shall never die, their 
fire never be quenched, in the life to 
come. He that believes to the con- 
trary is an unbeliever in Divine Re- 
velation, and can have no claim what- 
ever to Christianity. Let him, if he 
has any moral honesty about him or 
in him, come out in his true charac- 
ter, and declare to the world what he 
really is, an infidel. See chap. 20 : 10. 

The mark of his name. The mark 
of his image, either on his hand or 
on his forehead. See chap. 13 : 16, + 



* This is a figurative mode of expression, to show that the wrath of God should be 
poured out in the extent upon the person that worshipped the beast or his image, for it 
is beyond doubt that the cup of his indignation is the person guilty of the above crime. 
As his heart is full of idolatry and iniquity, the wrath of God is equally filled up to the 
brim, as a just punishment for his guilt. 

f Our bodies, in their present state, are neither fit for heaven nor hell ; but at the morn- 
ing of the resurrection they shall undergo a change from corruption to incorruption, and 
from mortal to immortality : and then every seed shall have its own body — the seed of 
evil-doers shall have bodies capable of bearing the torments of hell without being dis- 
solved, while, on the other hand, the righteous shall have glorious bodies like that of 
their Lord and Master. sinner, cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils : if he 
asserts that the punishment of hell is not eternal, believe him not, (see chapter 6 : 15,) 
for if you die in your sins, where God and Christ is you never can come. And if any man 
love not our Lord Jesus Christ, or denies him or his holy word, let him he anathama 
maranatha. 

% If any believer worshipped the beast or his image, or received his mark, he was to 
be punished in the following manner: 1. He was to drink of the wine of the wrath of 



200 



NOTES ON THE 



12 Here is the patience of the saints : here are they 
that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of 
Jesus. 

13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, 



12 Here is the patience of the 
saints. In this the patience as well as 
the faith of the saints is manifest. 
We fearlessly assert, they will suffer 
the loss of property, liberty, and life 
itself, rather than deny the Lord who 
bought them with his blood, and bring 
swift destruction on themselves. 

13 A voice from heaven. From Je- 
sus, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, 
but whose eyes are abroad in the 



earth, beholding the evil and the 
good. 

Write. It in your book, that all 
succeeding generations may know, 
that I will never leave nor forsake 
them that put their trust in me. 
Blessed. Happy, peaceful, glorious. 

Are the dead. Those who are dead 
to sin and the world, and alive to 
God, or those who have fallen asleep 
in Jesus. 



God. 2. It was to be poured out without mixture of mercy. 3. He was the cup of God's 
indignation. 4. He was to be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the 
holy angels. 5. He was to have no rest day nor night in this life, and the smoke of his 
torment was to ascend up for ever and ever in the life to come. So that if the beast is 
the pape, and the image of the beast the images that are adored in the church of Rome, 
and his mark the mark of the cross of Christ, it necessarily follows that if any believer 
in Christ worshipped the pope in the manner described, or paid adoration to the images 
in the church of Rome, or even to the above cross, which was originally designed to re- 
present the cross of Christ, he had excluded himself from the mercy of God for ever, 
and the Most High, according to the above statement, could extend no mercy to him, 
neither in this life nor in that which is to come, because his wrath was to be poured out 
upon such offenders without mixture. According to this interpretation, the church of 
Rome, from the time of the first pope to the present, never could have produced a be. 
liever in Christ, in the above sense ; and if it did, they could not enjoy the favor of God, 
and yet continue in that church. But Thomas-a-Kempis, the Marquis De Renty, and 
and others, would be proof against this. And again, if a Roman Catholic, after he had 
experienced the love of God, had embraced the protestant faith and doctrine, and after 
this turned papist again, he must, according to this interpretation, have excluded 
himself from any possibility of being saved the second time : God could extend no mercy 
to him. But he that had tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world 
to come, and was made partaker of the Holy Ghost, if he had fallen away so far as to 
deny Christ and sacrifice to an idol, and pay that honor and adoration to the beast that 
he formerly paid to his Lord and Master, it was impossible for him to be restored to the 
fa^or of God again, because he had crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to an 
open shame. See Heb. 6: 4. 



REVELATION. 



201 



Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 



Who shall die in the Lord. In the 
faith of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 
To be iu the Lord, is to be united to 
him, by faith, as closely and inti- 
mately as the branch to the vine. If 
a living branch, you will bear fruit 
unto holiness, and the end be ever- 
lasting life. If a dead branch, you 
are fit for nothing but to be plucked 
up by the roots, and cast into the un- 
quenchable fire to be burned up. The 
believer lives in him, walks in him, 
dies in him, rises in him, and lives 
with him for ever in glory. Hallelu- 
jah ! Amen. 

From henceforth. From this time 
forth and for ever. Their deaths will 
now be easy, happv, holy, trium- 
phant. They will fall asleep in Christ 
just like a little, simple, lovely babe, 
in its affectionate mother's arms.* 

Yea, saiih the Spirit. This is the 



last office of the Holy Spirit, to seal 
them unto the day of eternal redemp- 
tion. He has been their comforter 
and guide through life, and now he 
goes with them through the valley 
and shadow of death, and then car- 
ries them on his wings to glory, to 
present them to Jesus. 

That they may rest from their labors. 
From persecution, affliction, hunger, 
cold, nakedness, poverty, distress of 
body and mind, losses and crosses, 
trials and temptations of the devil, 
allurements of the world, infirmities 
of the flesh, backbitings, slanders and 
reproaches of wicked men. We shall 
preach no more, pray no more, exhort 
no more, nor weep bitterly between 
the porch and the altar. We shall 

Our body whh our charge lay down, 
And cease at once to work and live. 



* From this time forward, namely, from the downfal of Babylon. See verse 3. From 
henceforth must refer to that period, for it is used here in the present tense, and could not 
allude to the commencement or conclusion of the prophecy, but to a period when part of 
the prophecy was fulfilled, and part of it remained to be such. And as Babylon was the 
main cause of their persecution and oppression, and the downfal of this city is mentioned 
a little before, is it not more probable that John referred to that period than to any other ? 
Certainly it is. The same expression occurs in the 4th chapter and 8th verse of the se- 
cond epistle of Paul to Timothy, and there it is used in the present tense, and had refer- 
ence to the time when he had finished his christian course. See verse 7. Before Jeru- 
salem was destroyed, the poor innocent followers of Christ had two of the most powerful 
nations in the world to contend with, viz. the Jews and Romans ; but when Nero was 
dethroned, and the Jews subdued, their present miseries had come to an end ; so that 
those who now died in the Lord died a blessed or a happy death, in comparison to others. 
But it may mean all those that died martyrs for Jesus. When Babylon had fallen, the 
Christians had no nation to oppose them but the Romans ; and if they died martyrs for 
Christ, they were more particularly blessed or happy, because they were the first to be 
raised to glory and be with their Savior, See chap. 20 : 6. 

26 



202 



NOTES ON THE 



henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
their labors ; and their works do follow them. 



And their works do follow them.* 
For their final and eternal reward, 
they will now have an eternal weight 
of glory. E} r e hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, nor hath it entered into the 
heart of man to conceive the things 
which God hath prepared for them 
that love him. Whatsoever things are 
pure, whatsoever things are love- 
ly, whatsoever things are delightful, 
charming, desirable in this life, we 
shall have them more abundantly in 
the life to come. Here we are exiles ; 
there we shall be at home in our Fa- 
ther's kingdom. Here we are pil- 
grims ; there we shall be at our jour- 
ney's end. Here we are strangers 
and sojourners ; there we shall be in 
our own country, and among our own 
kindred. Here we are persecuted ; 
there we shall be rewarded with 
crowns of glory and palms of victory. 
The climate is delightful; 

No chilling winds nor poisonous breath, 
Shall reach that healthful shore ; 

Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, 
Are felt and feared no more. 

The society is delightful: the whole 



royal family of heaven is there — the 
King and the Queen, (chap. 22 : 17,) 
with their ministers and ambassadors 
from every part of the world. 

They all shall speak the same lan- 
guage, viz. of Canaan. Hebrew, the 
Jews say. See Acts, 26 : 14. 

They shall wear the same clothing, 
viz. pure white linen. Chap. 44 : 7-9. 

They all are robed in spotless white, 
And conquering palms they bear. 

They shall eat the same food. The 
good Shepherd shall lead his flock 
into green pastures, to cool shades, 
and where the cooling and refreshing 
waters of life flow. Chap. 7 : 17. 

They shall have the same compa- 
nions ; angels, arch- angels, and all the 
spirits of the just made perfect; pa- 
triarchs, prophets, priests and kings ; 
the ministers and martyrs of J esus ; 
the general assembly and church of 
the first-born, whose names are writ- 
ten in heaven, and Jesus Christ, the 
Mediator of the new covenant, and 
the Judge of all men. 
: They shall have the same com- 



* The reward of their holy and pious labors shall follow them to the bar of God ; it is 
there their works shall receive their full reward, or their full weight of glory. That there 
are different degrees of glory in heaven, as well as different degrees of punishment in 
hell, is evident from the word of God. See John, 14 : 2, and chap. 21 : 8 of this book. 
Our blessed Savior will reward the righteous according to his works, and punish the wick- 
ed in proportion to his wickedness. They that have done good shall rise to the resurrec- 
tion of life, and they that have clone evil to the resurrection of damnation. The wise 
virgins shall have the gates of glory opened to them ; but the foolish virgins, who let their 
lamps go out for want of oil, shall have ihem shut against them. 



REVELATION. 



203 



14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon 
the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his 
head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 

15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying 
with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in 



plexion. Glorious, brilliant, angelic, 
like Jesus. 1 John, 3 : 2. Color, cast, 
and distinction, is not known there. 

They shall possess the same feel- 
ings. Love, joy, happiness. 

They shall have the same employ- 
ment, viz. praise and adoration "unto 
Him that hath loved us and washed 
us from our sins in his own blood, and 
hath made us unto God and his Fa- 
ther priests and kings ; to him be glory." 

They shall enjoy the same happi- 
ness. There the wicked cease from 
troubling, there the weary are at rest. 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth. 

14 A white cloud. That is, of wit- 
nesses. The four and twenty elders, 
who are Jesus' witnesses. They are 
his spiritual sanhedrin. He sits now 
in judgmment with them, to condemn 
the great spiritual whore which sit- 
teth on many waters. 

A sharp sickle. The Roman army, 
or it may mean the sickle of justice 
and judgment. This was now going to 
be thrust in, and to ctit down the har- 
vest of the wicked. The sanhedrin 
are called sha-loo-sha bai-ith-din ; the 
ministers or messengers of the house 
of judgment. They sat in the time of 
harvest in a semi-circle, to tell the 
messenger of the sanctuary "that 
the harvest was now ripe, and time 
to put in the sickle." The four and 
twenty elders are represented as 



sitting in the church to tell the people 
the harvest of the wicked in Judea 
was now ripe, and fit to be cut down, 
and that the people must depart 
from spiritual Egypt, for the destroy- 
ing angel was to pass through there 
immediately, and destroj 7 all the first- 
born, both man and beast. When the 
harvest was cut down in Judea, then 
there was a time of great rejoicing, 
feasting, mirth, and thanksgiving — 
the harp, tabret, and viol, were heard 
in every part of it. The church 
is represented also as rejoicing and 
praising God, with harps in their 
hands, because the spiritual harvest is 
reaped, and their inveterate enemy 
cut down. She sung the song of de- 
liverance from her enemies. The har- 
vest was cut down in May, and this 
was the month that Titus and his sol- 
diers began to cut down the Jews in 
Jerusalem. 

Another angel. Probably the min- 
ister of the church of Thyatira. 
Chap. 2:18. 

Thrust in the siclde. TibtS Send 
forth the reapers (Roman army) into 
Judea; for the fields are now white 
and ready to harvest. Joel, 2:13. 

For the time has come. It has been 
announced by Christ and the Sanhe- 
drin, that the set time has now come. 
The robbers and murderers are cut- 
ting down the ripe sheaves, and filling 
the temple with the dead bodies, be- 



204 



NOTES ON THE 



thy sickle, and reap : for the time is come for thee to reap ; 
for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 

16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on 
the earth ; and the earth was reaped. 

17 And another angel came out of the temple which 
is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 

18 And another angel came out from the altar, which 



cause the harvest of the earth is ripe, 
fit for destruction. Daniel's 70 years 
are now ended, viz. since the time 
Messiah came ; therefore cut down 
the harvest.* 

The earth is reaped. Judea and 
Jerusalem are utterly ruined and de- 
stroyed, cut down as cumberers of 
the ground ; the people and the grass, 
the gardens and the grain, the cattle, 
the herds, and the horses, are all cut 
off and destroyed. Judea is now a 
desolate wilderness. " The daughter 
of Zion is left as a solitary cottage in 
a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of 
cucumbers, as a besieged city. The 
country is desolate, the cities burnt 
with fire, the land devoured by stran- 
gers, and the cities desolated and 
overthrown by foreigners." Isaiah, 
1 : 7, 8. 

17 Another an gel. A different one. 



One from heaven, probably Joel, 
who was sent to announce to the 
church that the following part of his 
prophecy was now going to be literal- 
ly fulfilled in Judea. See Joel, 2:13; 
Is. 63 : 2, 3 ; 5 : 2-7. 

Having a sharp sickle. The Ro- 
man army. To punish them for the 
murder of all the holy prophets whom 
they slew at different times. I have 
no doubt but the murdered ghosts of 
these holy men, as well as those of 
the saints which they put to death, 
had now appeared in Jerusalem as an 
indication that God was about to re- 
quire their blood at the hands of that 
wicked city. 

18 Another angel. Probably the 
minister of the church of Sardis. 

Which had power over fire. Over 
the spiritual fire of the altar. See 
chap. 16 : 5.f 



* The Jews are now ripe for destruction, and the Gentiles for salvation ; but the har- 
vest is a title more applicab'e to the Jews than to any other nation. See Joel, 3:13; 
Jeremiah, 51 : 33. 34. 

) There was a fire kept perpetually burning on the Jewish altar, and was called by them 
the unquenchable fire. It was customary for every one to bring wood for the altar, that 
there might never be a want of fuel, nor the fire go out. One of the priests had the 
charge of this, while the lot of others was to burn incense on the altar, when they went 
into the temple of the Lord. See Luke, 1:9; chapter 8 : 3, 4. And others had to slay 



REVELATION. 



205 



had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him 
that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp 
sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; 
for her grapes are fully ripe. 

19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, 



The cluster of the vine. The sour 
grapes. The backsliders in heart and 
life. The Lord brought this vine out 
of Egypt, (a barren, unproductive 
soil,) and planted it in the delightful 
and fertile land of Judea, and when it 
grew up like the tall cedars of Leba- 
non, its top reached to heaven, and 
its branches spread throughout the 
world. Yet it produced the most vile 
and vicious fruit, poisonous grapes; 
and God commanded it to be cut 
down, and torn up root and branch ; 



the wild boar of the forest, the hea- 
then emperor, destroyed it. Psalms, 
80:13.* 

Her grapes are fully ripe. The 
people are all now ripe for destruc- 
tion. The measure of their iniquity 
is full, and the cup running over; 
therefore put them into the great wine 
press of God's wrath, that their blood 
may be poured out as a libation for 
their sins. 

19 The great wine-press. The Ro- 
man army, (see Lam. 1:15,) who took 



the sacrifice, and pour out the blood on the altar, to make atonement for the sins of the 
people. This fire was only the shadow ; but John in this verse has given us to see the 
substance. This apostle was to see that the love of God was still burning on the main 
altar of their hearts, and if the fire was likely to go out, it was his duty to put on more 
fuel. It was for this purpose that he had been placed at the altar, i. e. that he might still 
keep the flame increasing higher and higher. But though the fire in one sense may be 
said to be unquenchable, yet if the minister ceases to be watchful, and the members refuse 
to work, it will very soon go out for want of fuel. See Levit. 9 : 24, 

* Isaiah asserts that the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. Chap. 
5 : 7. So that they were the vine ; Ps. 80 : 8 ; Hosea, 10 : 1 ; and the clusters of the 
vine were all that pertained to the house of Israel, whether Jews or proselytes ; and being 
scattered all over the world, something like grapes on a vine, this angel was sent to col- 
lect the clusters of the vine together to Judea and Jerusalem, that they might be thrown 
into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. And we know that this is a title peculiar 
to the Jews, and no other nation. And not only so, but a very large golden vine, of great 
value, with branches hanging down from a great height, was placed in their temple. See 
Josephus, Antiq. book 15, 11:3. And if we admit that the house of Israel was the vine, 
and all that pertained unto her the clusters of this vine, then we must allow that the wine 
spoken of in verse 8 was the juice of these grapes, and that spiritual Babylon was Jeru- 
salem. 



206 



NOTES ON THE 



and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the 
great wine-press of the wrath of God. 

20 And the wine -press was trodden without the city, 



their station outside the walls of 
the city, on Mount Calvary, where 
Christ's blood was shed, and there 
they commenced their operations in 
cutting down the vine, and squees- 
irig out the grapes. This is the 
wine press of God's wrath, which he 
had appointed to slaughter the Jews 
in every part of Judea.* 

20 And blood came out of the press 
even to the horse-bridles. The effu- 
sion of blood was so great as almost 
to reach the horse-bridles. The bri- 
dles were very low ; came to the knee 
of the horse. We frequently say, 
the blood was knee deep. This is a 
Rabbinical mode of expression for a 
great effusion of blood. It must have 



been immense, when the fire of many 
of the houses was put out by it. See 
Joel, chap. 3 : ll-14.f 

A thousand and six hundred fur- 
longs. That is, two hundred miles. 
And this is precisely the length of the 
land of Palestine. St. John alludes 
here to Isaiah 14: 3. Hence, " Howl 
O gate, cry aloud O city, for the 
whole land of Palestine is consumed, 
destroyed; for there shall come a 
cloud, a vast army from the north, 
(Rome,) and they shall assemble at 
the appointed time." That is, in three 
score and ten years from the birth of 
the Messiah. This is the time al- 
lotted to man on the earth, and to the 
Jews to repent of their wickedness.^: 



* It was outside the walls the Romans pitched their camp, and it was here that they 
accomplished all their designs in the destruction of this people. The Jews who fought out- 
side of the walls were either taken prisoners and put to death, or else put to the sword. 
And if they attempted to escape, the cavalry pursued them and trod them down, or else 
killed them with their swords. While those that staid inside of the walls were either 
crushed to death by the large stones thrown in upon them by their enemies' engines, or 
else killed by their darts ; and those who were not destroyed in this manner were after- 
wards consumed by fire and famine. See chap. 16:21. 

f We need not think strange of this expression, for Jos.ephus declares that after the 
Romans got possession of the upper city, (Mount Zion,) they ran every person through 
whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with the dead bodies, and made the 
whole city run down with bloc! to such a degree that the fire of many of the houses was 
quenched or put out with the blood. See Josephus, War, book 6, 8 : 5 ; and as Mr. Whis- 
ton remarks, that in the nature of things, it was almost impossible for such a vast number 
to be collected together from any other nation as now perished in the city of Jerusalem ; 
nor have we an instance of the above statement, in all the cities that have been destroyed 
from that time to the present, viz. that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with 
the torrent of human blood. 

X The city spoken of above must have reference to the capital of Judea, for i was to 



REVELATION. 



207 



and blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the 
horse-bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred 
furlongs. 



this city that the clusters of the vine were to be gathered together, and it was outside of 
this city that the wine-press was trodden. And to suppose that there ever should be such 
a vast number of Jews collected together again, and destroyed at Jerusalem, and in Ju- 
dea, as that the blood should be so deep as to come up to the horse-bridles, is improba- 
ble. This slaughter extended throughout the whole land of Palestine ; there were slain 
at Askelon 10,000, and in an ambuscade near the same place, 8,000. At Japha 15,000. 
And of the Samaritans, on mount Gerizim, 11,600. At Jotapata 40,000. At Joppa 
4,200. At Tarichea 6,500. And after the city was taken, 1,200. At Gamala 4,000, be- 
sides 5,000 who threw themselves down a precipice. Of those who fled with John of Gis- 
chala, 6,800. On the lake of Gennessaret 6,000. Of the Gadarenes 15,000. In the vil- 
lage of Idumea above 10,000. At Gerasa 1,000. At Maohserus 1,700. In the woods 
of Jardes 3,000. In the castle of Masada 960. In Cyrene, by Cattullus, the governor, 
8,000. And 11,000 perished during the siege of Jerusalem. So that during the entire 
war, before this, and to this period, there perished 1,957,660, beside 97,000 who were 
taken captives. But some may think that the fall of Babylon, and the harvest and vintage 
spoken of in the latter part of this chapter, are two distinct things, for one is said to have 
fallen before the other had taken place. To this I would reply, namely, that St. John 
had only seen these things in the vision which ends in the next chapter; and Babylon had 
not actually fallen until the time when the 16th chapter and 19th verse was fulfilled. So 
that those texts which he quoted from the prophets had immediate reference to the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, and their meaning was not made manifest to him until now. 



CHAPTER XV. 

And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvel- 



1 The seven last plagues* These only referred to by John, but now 
were not seven new ones, but the old they are going to be accomplished on 
ones alluded to before. They were spiritual Pharaoh and all the host of 



208 



NOTES ON THE 



lous, seven angels having the seven last plagues ; for in 
them is filled up the wrath of God. 

2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with 



Egyptians. They are seven severe 
judgments, which the nation most 
justly deserve. In them is the wrath 
of God rilled up. His justice will now 
be satisfied, and his mercy clearly 
made manifest to the world. His mer- 
cy was manifest in their salvation; 
his justice in their destruction for re- 
jecting it. Reader, he is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever — he 
changeth not; and the soul that sins 
shall die eternally. For the mouth of 
the Lord hath spoken it. All the 
curses which he had denounced 
against them in the law and in the 
gospel, were contained in these 
plagues ; and as soon as these vials 
of the wrath of God were poured 
out on the Jews, then these curses 
were fulfilled in the extent. 

2 A sea of glass. The gospel sea. 
Fair as the sun, clear as the moon, 
and terrible as an army with banners. 
In it you can see the end from the be- 
ginning. A fool, though a way-faring 
man, need not err therein. The Rab- 
bins called the law the sea of glass, 
because pure and perfect, and St. 
John calls the gospel such, in allusion 
to the law. 

Mingled with fire. The fire of Di- 
vine love. Where there is no fire, 
there is no food for the soul, and con- 
sequently the sheep cannot be fed. 
The minister whose heart is not in- 
flamed with love and fire from off the 
altar, may feed himself, but he cannot 
feed the flock. Such men either 
preach the people asleep, or out of 



the church; either cause them to 
backslide in heart or in life. Surely 
God will require their blood at his 
hands in the day of eternity. See 
Ezek. 3:18; Is. 6 : 6, 7. The people 
are daubed with untempered mortar, 
but not admonished of their dan- 
ger. " The prophets prophecy smooth 
things, and the people love to have it 
so." The word of God is compared 
to fire in Jeremiah, 23 : 29, and the 
ministers of the gospel to a flame of 
fire. See chap. 1 : 14. 

Them who had gotten Hie victory 
over the least. They overcame him 
by the blood of the Lamb, conquered 
him by faith and prayer— not the pa- 
pal beast, but the pagan beast. They 
got the victory over the latter, but 
we have not gotten the victory over 
the former yet ; but we soon will. 
The set time for this is at hand ; po- 
pery is now tottering, and will soon fi- 
nally fall to rise no more for ever. 
The seventh and last viol is to be 
poured out on the seat of the spiritual 
beast. 

His image. Idol made in honor of 
the emperor, as a mark of great dis- 
tinction, which showed the ignorance 
of the people as well as the prince. 
But soon after this the religion of 
Jesus caused them to throw their 
idols to the moles and the bats, and to 
worship God in spirit and in truth. 
The emperor commanded, but could 
not compel the disciples of Christ to 
worship his idol, that could neither 
see, hear, nor speak. They loved 



REVELATION. 



209 



fire : and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, 
and over his image, and over his mark, and over the num- 
ber of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the 
harps of God. 

3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, 
and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous 
are thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy 
ways, thou King of saints. 

4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy 



Jesus, and would die cheerfully at the 
stake rather than deny him. But if 
a creature, and not the Creator, (and 
they worshipped him as such,) they 
all lived and died idolaters, equally 
such with the heathen, and must, 
therefore, have all finally perished, 
angels and men; for both worshipped 
him as God and not as man. 

His mark. His brand; mark of his 
idol, or seal of citizenship. The lat- 
ter was on parchment, the former on 
either the hand or the forehead. 

The number of his name. The 
number of his idol 666. This was 
worn on a medal as a badge of honor, 
and a token of submission to idolatry. 

Stand on a sea of glass. By faith 
and prayer. They stood on this as 
the foundation of Christianity. Hence, 
says Paul, "thou standest by faith; 
therefore be not high-minded, but 
fear." Rom. 11 : 20 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 1. 
The battle was fought on earth, and 
the victory obtained here through the 
blood of the Lamb, and it was here 
the people stood, by faith, on the gos- 
pel sea ; therefore the people were on 
earth, and not in heaven, at this time. 



Harps. Of praise and of salvation. 
On this the church sung the new song 
of redeeming grace and dying love. 
See chap. 1 : 4. 

3 The song of Moses and the Lamb. 
The spiritual song of deliverance 
through the blood of the Lamb. It 
was sprinkled on their conscience, to 
the washing away of all their sins, 
and therefore the destroying angel had 
no dominion over them. It was not 
their houses but their hearts which 
were sprinkled with the blood of the 
paschal lamb. This anthem was sung 
in shadow by Israel, when Pharaoh 
and all his host was drowned in the 
Red Sea ; but now it is sung in sub- 
stance by the true Israel of God, be- 
cause God had conducted them safely 
through the Red Sea of human blood, 
in which spiritual Pharaoh and all 
his host was overwhelmed. See Ex. 
15:1; Deut. 31:30. 

Lord God Almighty. See chap. 
4:8. 

4 For all nations shall come and 
worship before thee. They shall come 
from the East, from the West, from 
the North and from the South; from 



210 



NOTES ON THE 



name : for thou only art holy : for all nations shall come 
and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made 
manifest. 

5 And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of 
the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened : 



Asia, Africa, Europe and America, 
by faith and prayer, and worship thee 
in spirit and in truth, in the new and 
heavenly Jerusalem. A nation shall 
he born to thee in a day, and all 
know Jesus, from the least to the 
greatest. Knowledge shall cover the 
earth as the waters the sea, and all 
shall submit to the mild and easy yoke 
of King Immanuel. Amen. 

Thy judgments are made manifest. 
That is, on the nation that would not 
serve and obey thee. They were pun- 
ished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord and the glo- 
ry of his power for ever. The old 
city was pulled down to the very 
foundation, and the new built upon 
the ruins thereof, and the wealth and 
influence of all nations flowed into it. 
Kings became nursing fathers, and 
queens nursing mothers in it, and the 
people were all taught of the Lord, 
and great was the peace of his 
people. 

5 The temple of the tabernacle. 
The church of Christ which has been 
built up on the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus 
himself being the chief corner stone, 
in whom all the building, fitly framed 
together, groweth up into a holy tem- 
ple in the Lord. Eph. 2 : 20, 21. 
The Rabbins speak of two taberna- 
cles and two sanctuaries, " one in 



heaven, and the other on earth," em- 
blems of the church militant and of 
the church triumphant, of the holiest 
of holies, (the ministry,) and the ho- 
liest of all in heaven itself. The apos- 
tles are compared to the inner court 
of the Jewish temple, into which 
none but the priests alone could enter. 
See chap. 9:19. John, in the next 
verse, represents them as coming out 
of the holiest of holies, accomplish- 
ing the service of God the same as 
the priests under the law ; and he re- 
presents them as being dressed in the 
same kind of garments. See Yarchie 
on Gen. 28 : 17. 

Of the testimony. Of the life, death, 
sufferings, miracles, resurrection and 
ascension of Christ to glory. The 
apostles had this heavenly treasure 
deposited in earthen vessels, that the 
glory might be of God and not of 
man. See John 15 : 27. They are 
called the tabernacle of the testimo- 
ny, because in their hands and in their 
hearts were deposited the very sub- 
stance of what was contained in the 
tabernacle under the law, viz. the ark 
of the covenant, (see chap. 9:19,) 
wherein were the golden pot that had 
manna, (see chap. 2 : 17,) and Aaron's 
rod that budded, and the two tables 
of the covenant. See Heb. 9:3, 4. 

Was now opened. Wide, to admit 
all nations through the twelve gates 



REVELATION. 



211 



6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having 
the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and 
having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 

7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven an- 
gels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liv- 
eth for ever and ever. 

8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glo- 



into the city of the new and heavenly 
Jerusalem. The repenting, returning 
prodigals were now invited to return 
to their Father's house, where there 
is bread enough and to spare. But it 
may refer to the departure of the 
ministers and members until after the 
war. 

6 Seven angels. The seven earthly 
messengers of the churches in Asia. 
They are now represented as sepa- 
rating from their different churches 
because of the war and persecution. 
The people were scattered into the 
four quarters of the earth. But after 
the war was ended, the Lord sent his 
angel and collected his elect (his 
church) from the four winds of hea- 
ven. Matt. 24 : 31. These seven apos- 
tles are figuratively represented as 
coming out of the holiest of holies 
into the spiritual temple of God ; but 
this is only to show that these priests 
and kings of the living God could not 
enter into the high and holy office of 
the ministry until the seven plagues 
were fulfilled. See verse 8. 

Clothed in white. Spiritual and ho- 
ly^arments, not the linen garments 
worn by the priests under the law, but 
purity of heart and life, experienced 
by both ministers and members under 
the gospel. The priests under the 



law were not allowed to officiate in 
woollen garments : there was a parti- 
cular suit made to wear on this occa- 
sion ; the dress consisted of a mitre of 
fine linen for the head, and a coat of 
the same for the body, with embroi- 
dered work, with a girdle of needle- 
work to tie round the body ; and they 
were also obliged to wear linen 
breeches, when they ministered in 
holy things. See Exod. 28: 39-41. 

Golden girdles. The pure and pre- 
cious doctrines of Christianity. These 
were entwined around their hearts 
like the ivy around the wall, and ma- 
nifest in their lives. 

7 And one of the four leasts. One 
of the cherubs. Spiritual and holy fa- 
thers of the church ; either Peter or 
John himself. One of our Lord's 
witnesses, who had power to turn 
water into blood. Chap. 11:6. 

Seven vials. The seven last plagues 
which were now going to be poured 
out, without mixture of mercy, on 
the people who showed no mercy, 
neither feared God nor regarded man. 
The ministers of the seven churches 
are represented here as having these 
plagues in their hands, and just ready 
to pour them out on the rebellious and 
sinful nation. 

8 The temple was filled with smoke. 



212 



NOTES ON THE 



ry of God, and from his power ; and no man was able to 
enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven 
angels were fulfilled. 



With the glory of God. If the church 
is not rilled with the glory of God, it 
is filled with the glory of man. 1 Cor. 
3 : 21. This was a second pentecost, 
or general outpouring of the Spirit 
on the churches, to prepare them for 
their final departure from each other. 
That is, during the war, which con- 
tinued three years and six months. 
God always fits the back for the bur- 
den, and prepares his people to pass 
through the fire and the water to the 
kingdom. In the midst of our weak- 
ness, his grace is made perfect 
strength. To Paul he said, "my 
grace is sufficient for thee." He 
could then gladly exclaim and say, 
«' I will glory in my infirmities, for 
when I am weak then am I strong." 

And no man. Minister or mem- 
ber, young or old, rich or poor, was 



able to enter the temple. That is, to 
meet with the church for Divine wor- 
ship. War in Judea, and persecution 
in the church, was the cause of this. 
Our Savior commanded them forty 
years previous, that when they saw 
the Roman standard planted in Judea, 
or in the holy place near the city of 
Jerusalem, to escape into the wilder- 
ness of Judea. This is what John al- 
ludes to here. They had their shoes 
on their feet, and their staff in their 
hand, and were now going to eat their 
Lord's last passover in spiritual Egypt 
where he was crucified ; that is, 
before they took their final departure 
from it. The destroying angel was on 
his way thither, with his weapon in 
his hand, to destroy all the first-born 
in it, both man and beast. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
A.ND I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying, 



1 A voice out of the temple. The Go your ways. Into every part of 

voice of Christ himself to his minis- Judea and the Roman empire. The 

tering spirit, that is, his command to day of vengeance is now at hand, in 

him. which all things written in the law 



REVELATION. 



213 



to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials 
of the wrath of God upon the earth, 

2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the 



and the prophets shall be fulfilled. 
The Jews shall be all destroyed be- 
cause of unbelief. The Gentiles shall 
be punished severely because of idol- 
atry. 

Vials of wrath. Heavy judgments, 
severe calamities, such as never have 
come on the world before, and never 
shall again while the world lasts. 
The vials here have reference to the 
seven great and dreadful plagues of 
Egyp^ Ez. 14 : 21. 

2 The first angel. Heavenly mes- 
senger, probably the prophet Isaiah. 
As he was the greatest in sufferings, 
he is the first in honor and glory ; he 
was sawn asunder by Manassah, king 
of Jerusalem. See chap. 8:4. He 
was the guardian angel of the church 
of Ephesus. Two distinct classes of 
angels are mentioned in this book, 
earthly and heavenly. 

A noisome and grievous sore. Per- 
haps a hurricane or earthquake, or 
some severe calamity, which the em- 
pire felt very sensibly. About the 
year of our Lord 65 or 66, the whole 
world was agitated and disturbed ; 
nation rising against nation, and king- 
dom against kingdom, and earthquakes 
in different parts of the world, pesti- 
lences, famines, murders and robbe- 
ries, wars and rumors of wars. The 
Jews looking for their Messiah, whom 
they had crucified and put to death, 
and were now deceived by false mes- 
siahs and false prophets ; and all the 
Gentile nations were up in arms 
against each other ; the sea roaring 



and men's hearts trembling because 
of the terrible and dreadful calamities 
which were now coming on the world. 
John's vision seems to commence at 
about the above date, and then con- 
tinues on to the year of our Lord 
seventy-four or five, and then down 
to the expiration of the thousand 
years. See chapter 20. About this 
time a violent hurricane rendered 
the country of Campania a scene of 
desolation ; whole villages were over- 
thrown, and plantations torn up by 
the very roots, and the hopes of the 
year destroyed ; and the fury of the 
storm was felt in the neighborhood of 
Rome, and without any apparent 
cause in the atmosphere. A contagi- 
ous distemper broke out, and swept 
away a vast number of the inhabi- 
tants ; the houses were filled with 
dead bodies, and the streets with fu- 
neral processions ; neither sex nor 
age escaped, slaves and men of high 
birth were carried off without distinc- 
tion, amidst the shrieks and lamenta- 
tions of their wives and children. See 
Tacit, vol. 2, book 16, p. 342. And 
not only this, but it was about A. D. 
65 that the war between the Jews 
and Romans began under Florius. 
See chap. 8 : 7. 

The Jews rebelled against the Ro- 
mans, and they were afterwards di- 
vided among themselves, and formed 
themselves into three different fac- 
tions, and fought against each other, 
See verse 19. And the Romans af- 
terwards took up arms against each 



214 



NOTES ON THE 



earth ; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon 
the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them 
which worshipped his image. 

3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the 
sea ; and it became as the blood of a dead man ; and eve- 
ry living soul died in the sea. 



other, until battles and commotions 
were frequent in different parts of the 
empire, i. e. at the time when Galba, 
Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian were 
contending for the empire. Josephus 
says that there were slain at Cremona 
by Antonius Primus, thirty thousand 
and two hundred of Vitellus' army, 
and a great many of the people of 
that country, and many others who 
were strangers ; and four thousand 
five hundred of Antonius' army were 
killed in this battle. And if I under- 
stand him right, there were fifty thou- 
sand more of Vitellius' army slain 
afterwards by Antonius at Rome. See 
War, book 4, 11 : 3, 4. And as for 
pestilences and famines, we need not 
touch on these, for any who have read 
Josephus' history of the Jews must 
know that this part of the prophecy 
was fulfilled ; and if by earthquakes 
our Lord meant popular commotions, 
or earthquakes literally, we see how 
wonderfully this was fulfilled in both 
respects, for there were several in 
different places before the destruction 
of Jerusalem. There was one in 
Crete, in the reign of Claudius, and 
one at Smyrna, and another at Mile- 
tus, and one at Rome, mentioned by 
Tacitus, and another at Laodicea, in 
the reign of Nero, in which the city 
was overthrown, as were likewise 



Hierapolis and Collosse, and one at 
Campania, mentioned by Seneca, and 
one at Rome in the reign of Galba, 
and a dreadful one in Judea a little 
before the destruction of Jerusalem, 
which was accompanied by strong 
winds and large showers of rain, with 
continual lightnings and terrible thun- 
derings. These things, as Josephus 
observes, were a manifest indication 
that destruction was coming upon man 
when the system of the world was 
put into such disorder. War, b. 4,4:5. 

The mark of the least and worship 
his image. This seems to refer more 
particularly to the army and soldiers, 
who were called his children, and 
who wore the same uniform as the 
general. These were the men who 
first deified him and then worshipped 
his image. See chap. 13 : 16. But 
the punishment extended to citizens 
and soldiers. 

3 The second angel. The prophet 
Ezekiel, the guardian angel of the 
church of Smyrna. 

Poured out his vial on the sea. Of 
Genessaret. See chap. 8 : 9. 

Every living soul died. The men 
may have all been cut off, and the 
third part of the fish also, by reason 
of the stench from the dead bodies. 
See chap, 8:10. The vials are mere- 
ly referred to or described in the other 



REVELATION. 



215 



4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the 
rivers and fountains of waters : and they became blood. 

5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art 
righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, be- 
cause thou hast judged thus. 

6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, 
and thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they are 
worthy. 

7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, 
Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 

8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the 
sun ; and power was given unto him to scorch men with 
fire. 



chapters, but here they are represent- 
ed as if actually poured out. 

4 The third angel. The prophet 
Jeremiah, the guardian angel of the 
church of Pergamos. 

And the waters became hlood. That 
is, red with the blood of the slain. 
See chap. 8 : 11. 

5 The angel of the waters. He 
that had power over the rivers and 
fountains of water, but not over the 
sea ; this belonged to another angel. 
The Rabbins speak of angels of wa- 
ter, angels of fire, angels of the sea, 
and angels of the land, and that Ga- 
briel is sar shal ish, the prince of fire. 

Lord. The Lord Jesus, the in- 
finite and eternal Jehovah himself, 
who is, who was, and who shall be 
for ever and ever. See chap. 1 : 8. 

6 For they have shed the Hood of 
prophets and saints. That is, the 
blood of their own blessed prophets 
and saints. All the innocent blood 



shed since the foundation of the 
world came on that generation. The 
city was so notorious for the persecu- 
tion and murder of her own prophets 
that it was not possible for a prophet 
to perish out of Jerusalem. Luke, 
13 : 33, 34. 

Thou hast given them Hood to 
drink. As a just retaliation for all 
the innocent blood which they shed 
in Jerusalem. 

7 Lord God, Almighty. See chap. 
4:8. 

8 The fourth angel. That is, the 
prophet Mich ah, the guardian angel 
over the church in Thyatira. 

Poured out his vial upon the sun. 
To cover it as it were with sackcloth, 
to put it in mourning for the wicked- 
ness of the people. He also caused it 
to produce such intense heat as not 
only to destroy the people, but to 
wither, dry up, and consume all the 
grass and vegetables throughout the 



216 



XOTES OX THE 



9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blas- 
phemed the name of God, which hath power over these 
plagues : and they repented not to give him glory. 

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the 
seat of the beast ; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; 
and they gnawed their tongues for pain. 



land, which was the cause of the 
famine. 

9 Great heat. The thermometer in 
the shade, at times in the heat of 
summer, stood as high as 108, and in 
the open air. 120. This, of course, 
with the city on fire, and the im- 
mense multitude of people who were 
penned up there like cattle in a stall, 
must have been sufficient, with the 
pestilence, to sweep away thousands 
daily. 

And blaspheme God. Called him 
cruel, tyrannical, unmerciful. They 
cursed God and then died ; but they 
did not call to mind the cruel perse- 
cutions of our Lord and his apostles, 
also their own prophets, priests, and 
kings." See Is. 8 : 21. 

They repented not. They returned 
not to God with all their heart. Oh 
no ! but continued impenitent, cursing 
Christ and his followers to the last 
moment. 

10 The fifth angel. The prophet 
Joel. A double portion of the work 
was assigned to him ; Rome and the 
Roman army were all under his ju- 
risdiction. He had it in his power to 
punish Pharaoh and all the spiritual 
host of the Egyptians. 

On the seat of the beast. On Rome 
itself, the seat of universal empire. 
This must have reference to the se- 



vere and heavy calamities which came 
upon Rome when the three emperors, 
Gaiba, Otho, and Vitellius, were con- 
tending for the crown ; but it seems 
to refer more particularly to the war 
between the armies of Vitellius and 
Vespasian. 

And the kingdom of the beast. The 
Roman empire. This shows evident- 
ly that the kingdom is not the beast, 
nor the beast the kingdom, but sim- 
ply the king of it. 

And his kingdom was full of dark- 
?iess. War, bloodshed, confusion, hor- 
ror, dismay, dreadful calamities which 
were now coming on the world. By 
the darkness here we are to under- 
stand that produced by the clouds of 
the Roman army pouring themselves 
into the city of Rome, until the hills 
and houses, and the very streets were 
crowded with them, i. e. when the 
two above armies were fighting with 
each other ; and if we add to this the 
many houses that were set on fire, 
together with the vast number that 
perished on both sides, and the dread- 
ful horror that had come over the 
minds of the people, then we must 
easily perceive how applicable this is 
to the affairs of Rome at that time. 
See chap. 9 : 2. 

Gnawed their tongues. Like the 
damned in perdition. Rome has al- 



REVELATION. 



217 



11 And blasphemed the God of heaven, because of 
their pains and their sores, and repented not of their 
deeds. 

12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the 
great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried 
up, that the way of the kings of the east might be pre- 
pared. 



ways been the stronghold of the devil. 
He has had possession of it from the 
beginning, and will never give up his 
claim ; he has had more faithful infi- 
del disciples there than in all the other 
cities of the universe. And it has spread 
its corruptions into every hole and 
corner of the world : churches, pa- 
laces, courts, kingdoms, prisons, in- 
quisitions, cloisters, closets, confes- 
sionals, nunneries, and monasteries, 
will all bear testimony to this fact. 

11 Blasphemed the God of heaven. 
Reproached, charged him with injus- 
tice. They could not sustain these 
miseries. They had lately persecuted 
the poor innocent Christians, and re- 
pented not of it, and now God in jus- 
tice punishes them severely. Ven- 
geance is mine, saith Jehovah ; I will 
repay. 

12 The sixth angel. Zechariah, 
the guardian angel of the church of 
Philadelphia. See chap. 9:33. 

On the great river Euphrates. This 
angel had power over that particular 
river, and the army stationed there. 
He is now commissioned to prepare 
the way for the army to march into 
Judea, and for this purpose Nero had 
a bridge thrown over it. 

The water thereof was dried up. 



That is, the difficulties in the way of 
the army marching into Judea were 
now removed ; the contending parties 
were reconciled ; hostilities had ceas- 
ed, and the way was now prepared 
to unite with the Roman army in Ju- 
dea against the Jews. 

That the way of the kings of the 
east might he prepared. The war 
between the Parthians and Romans 
had come to a final conclusion ; all 
the commotions in the east had now 
ceased, and there was no more for the 
Roman army to do in these parts ; so 
that now the way was paved for the 
army of the Euphrates to come and 
destroy the Jews. We never had an 
instance as yet of the water of this 
river being dried up, and it is most 
likely we never shall. But we know 
that St. John has represented the 
envy and wrath of the dragon under 
the emblem of water. See chapter 
12 : 15, 16. And no doubt this is the 
sense in which he uses this expression 
at present ; that is, to show that the 
envy and wrath of the two above na- 
tions had now ended, and that they 
were at this time perfectly reconciled 
to each other, which is very evident 
from the words of Suetonius, for he 
observes, in his life of Vespasian, that 



28 



218 



NOTES ON THE 



13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out 
of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the 
beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 



Volgesus, king of the Parthians, of- 
fered to send Vespasian forty thou- 
sand bow-men to assist him against 
Vitellius. 

That the way of the kings of the 
east, &c. The war being now over 
was what prepared the way for the 
kings of the east. But who were 
these kings, which St. John elsewhere 
calls angels ? Chap. 9 : 15. 1 think 
the words of Tacitus sufficient to il- 
lustrate this point. He says, that 
while the different opinions kept the 
public mind in agitation, Nero order- 
ed levies to be made in the eastern 
nations, and he desired, at the same 
time, that Agrippa and Antiochus, 
two oriental kings, should hold their 
forces in readiness to enter the terri- 
tory of the Parthians ; and for the 
convenience of his armies, bridges 
were thrown over the Euphrates: the 
lesser Armenia was committed to 
Aristobulus, and the country called 
Sophenes, to Sohemus : both princes 
were allowed to assume the ensigns 
of royalty. But circumstances gave 
a sudden turn in favor of Rome ; Var- 
danis, the son of Vologeses, became 
competitor for the crown in opposition 
to his father. The Parthians were, 
by this means, obliged to recall their 
armies, under color of deferring, and 
not abandoning, the war ; so that Ar- 
menia was evacuated. 

13 Three unclean spirits. 1. This 
may mean evil demons, with which 
each of them were possessed ; the devil 
influenced them in all their thoughts, 



words, and actions ; they sold them- 
selves to him to work all manner of 
wickedness ; and now to secure their 
services, he sent three of his most 
faithful ministers to take full posses- 
sion of their souls, bodies, and spirits* 

2. As the evil spirits proceeded out 
of the mouth of the dragon, they may 
refer to Vespasian and to his two sons. 
The general and his son were the 
dragon's mouth-piece ; during the war 
he spoke and acted through them. 
They are represented here as going 
about collecting the armies together 
to the battle of Harmageddon, and 
seems to indicate they were vile, fil- 
thy heathen men, and not real devils. 

3. It is more likely that by the three 
frogs John meant Galba, Otho, and 
Vitellius. The comparison is most 
excellent, for they were filthy, lazy, 
gluttonous, dissipated, and diabolic. 
The mouth may mean the senate, the 
mouth-piece of the nation, who con- 
stituted kings and emperors ; they are 
represented as proceeding out of their 
mouth, or being constituted emperors 
by them. The Rabbins called the 
Sanhedrin the mouth of Israel. As 
these three frogs are represented as 
going out to collect the armies together 
to fight the battle of Harmageddon, 
they must therefore have been gene- 
rals of the army. Galba, in Gaulic, 
means a reptile ; also fat, lazy, indo- 
lent. He was fond of retirement, 
sometimes on land, sometimes on the 
water. For months he could not be 
seen, for fear of Nero, who tried to 



REVELATION. 



219 



14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, 
which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the 
whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great 
day of God Almighty. 



kill him ; and then again he would 
appear in public ; and therefore re- 
sembled a frog in this respect, and in 
his moral character also. Otho was 
lazy, filthy, dissolute, and bloodthirs- 
ty. Vitellius was one of the most 
vile, wicked, and beastly men that 
ever lived ; he was worse, if any 
thing, than Nero, who was a monster 
(dragon) in human shape. Nothing 
delighted Vitellius more than to wade 
through the blood, and pass over the 
dead and putrid bodies of his enemies 
on the field of battle. He declared 
that the stench of such was sweet to 
him. He was such a notorious glut- 
ton and drunkard that Suetonius as- 
serts that all Rome was scarcely suf- 
ficient to satisfy his appetite. He ate 
four meals each day, and so much at 
one meal that he had to vomit it up 
to prepare his stomach for the next 
one. Here then we have a fair pic- 
ture of the three symbolic frogs. 

T lie false prophet. That is, Titus. 
He was called a prophet in the camp 
and among the people. He told his 
soldiers before he marched against a 
nation what he should accomplish, 
and he was invariably successful. 
From this the soldiers styled him a 
prophet, but St. John, a false one. 
Suetonius observes that Titus took 
upon him the office of the high-priest- 
hood, in order to have his hands un- 
defiled. And in the same section the 
same author actually represents him 



as foretelling future events. Every 
person who is acquainted with Taci- 
tus' history of Rome will find that 
Vespasian, the father of the false pro- 
phet, spent no small share of his time 
in studying to foretell future events. 
And his son, who was so anxious to 
imitate his father in every other res- 
pect, no doubt endeavored to do it in 
this. 

14 The spirits of devils. The spi- 
rits of three diabolical and vicious men 
as ever lived. 

JVorking miracles. That is, false 
ones, by magic, as did the Egyptians 
in the time of Moses and Aaron. They 
are of their father the devil, and the 
works of their fathe£ they will do. 
Neither the devil nor his agents have 
ever wrought a true miracle as yet. 
Rome has always been famous for 
false ones from the very commence- 
ment. If the pope cannot work a mi- 
racle by the power of Christ, he is 
sure to work a false one by the head, 
finger, foot, toe, or thigh bone of some- 
dead person whom he sainted because 
he left all his money to the church. 
The pope, when a prisoner in France, 
offered to make one of Napoleon's fa- 
mily a saint. The emperor declined 
this honor, stating that his friend had 
died a sinner, and the public might 
impute the honor to improper mo- 
tives. Pagan Rome had the art of 
magic ; papal Rome has retained it 



220 



NOTES ON THE 



15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watch- 
eth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and 
they see his shame. 

16 And he gathered them together into a place called 
in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 



ever since, and she will hold it fast to 
the end, because a great source of re- 
venue to the holy see. These mira- 
cles have been a fruitful source of in- 
fidelity and atheism through all Italy 
and all the catholic countries in which 
religion, the Bible, and the Sabbath 
are disregarded. 

The great day of God Almighty. 
The great day of his wrath ; it is now 
come, and who shall be able to stand. 

15 As a thief. In the night, and 
at the back door. I will come sud- 
denly, powerfully, unexpectedly, to 
tear in pieces and utterly destroy my 
enemies. 

Blessed is he that watcheth. Like 
the watchmen on Jerusalem's walls, 
awake night and day on his post ; the 
enemy cannot take him by surprise, 
unless asleep or off his guard. 

Keepeth his garments. From being 
spotted, polluted, stained with sin. If 
he repeats this again -and backslides, 
the stains may be too deep to purge 
or wash out with hyssop. 

Lest he walk naked. Stript of ho- 
liness, and God and the world see it, 
and the prison or the scaffold be the 
end of it. The backslider in heart 
and life shall be filled with the evil of 
his ways. Remember poor Dodd ! 
pray that the Most High may give 
you grace daily, lest you fall into 
temptation. 

16 Called in the Hebrew tongue Ar- 



mageddon. It should have been writ- 
ten with the Greek aspirate Harma- 
geddon, the mountain of slaughter, 
of desolation, destruction. But where 
is this mountain ? This is a question 
which has been asked a thousand 
times, and never as yet satisfactorily 
answered. It certainly must be some- 
where either in Asia, Africa, Europe, 
or America. But as the name is purely 
Hebrew, it must be in some part of 
the Holy Land. 

1. Then, the place where the great 
wine-press of God's wrath was trod- 
den is the very spot where the battle 
of Harmageddon was fought, for in 
this place the whole force of the hos- 
tile armies met. 

2. It was here that the blood was 
shed which came up, as it were, to 
the horse-bridles. 

3. This battle was fought outside 
the walls of a large, populous, and 
well fortified city. Chap. 14 : 20. 

4. This city was the capital of the 
country where the battle was fought, 
for it is called a great, a rich cit}'. 

5. The country was south of Rome, 
for Rome lay directly north of it. 

6. The length of the land was two 
hundred miles, or sixteen hundred 
furlongs. 

7. The slaughter was to be gene- 
ral ; that is, it was to extend through 
the length and breadth of the land. 

8. Isaiah declares this land to be 



REVELATION. 



221 



Palestine, and it answers the exact 
description given thereof. Judea is 
the land, and Jerusalem the capital 
of it, and Mount Moriah the very 
place where the battle of Harmaged- 
don was fought ; and no battle to equal 
it, thank God ! shall ever be fought 
again until time shall be no more. 
Matt. 24 : 21. 

This was the very mountain where 
Abraham offered up his beloved son 
Isaac, and the very spot on which the 
Lamb of God was afterward offered 
up as a sacrifice for the sins of the 
world ; and when on his way to the 
fatal spot, the women broke out into 
bitter lamentations, but he turned to 
them and said, " Daughters of Jeru- 
salem, weep not for me, but weep for 
the miseries which are coming on you 
and the nation, for the time will soon 
come when ye shall say, blessed are 
the barren, and the wombs which ne- 
ver bear, and the" paps which never 
gave suck." Luke, 23 : 28, 29. The 
Jews said, "his blood be on us and 
on our children ;" and on the very spot 
w r here they uttered this terrible im- 
precation, the blood of a great portion 
of the nation was spilt. The multi- 
tudes that were put to death there 
were so great that room was wanting 
for the crosses, and crosses to crucify 
them on. The number of the Jews 
that perished during the war with the 
Romans and in the siege of Jerusa- 
lem was almost innumerable ; no less 
than 1,957,660 were destroyed dur- 
ing the entire war. See chap. 14 : 20. 
After Titus had raised his banks 
nearly round about the whole entire 
city, the Roman soldiers detected a 
vast number of Jews, who were go- 
ing outside of the walls, looking for 
provisions, the famine being great ; 
s ome of them they whipped, and af- 



terwards tormented them with all 
sorts of tortures before they expired. 
They were crucified before the walls 
of the city ; and the soldiers, out of 
the hatred they bore the Jews, nailed 
those they caught, one after one way 
and another after another, to the 
crosses, by way of jest, till at length 
their multitude became so great that 
room was wanting for the crosses, and 
crosses for the bodies. See chap. 8 : 
11. And Josephus says that after the 
temple was burnt, the ground w T here- 
on it had stood could no where be 
seen on account of the vast number of 
dead bodies that lay in heaps upon 
each other ; beside the multitudes 
which had died by famine in the city, 
and were thrown down into a valley, 
outside of the walls, in heaps. And 
those that escaped death were bound 
together, and sent to Egypt to work in 
the mines for life, as had been predict- 
ed by Moses nearly two thousand 
years previous, and now literally ful- 
filled. Deut. 28 : 68. And for a real 
fulfilment of this prophecy see the 
above quotation from Josephus. 

John may have written the word in 
Chaldee, the moun- 

tain of destruction. The Greek ver- 
sion has it, the mount of the Most 
High. But John evidently has made 
this quotation from Zach. 12 : 11, and 
added in to it. Hence, ^^^"Ih 
har-ma-gid-don, the mountain of 
slaughter, of desolation, a pure He- 
brew name, from to lay waste, 
destroy, cutoff, as by an hostile army. 
Hence, "H"? a troop, dn host, army, 
the place where the hostile armies met 
and fought desperately on both sides. 
See Dan. 4 : 1 1 ; Is. 25 : 7. Jeremiah 
designates it the mountain of slaugh- 
ter. Chap. 51 : 25 ; and Ezekiel de- 



222 



NOTES ON THE 



17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the 
air ; and there came a great voice out of the temple of 
heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 

18 And there were voices, and thunders, and light- 
nings ; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not 
since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, 
and so great. 



clares that this slaughter shall be in 
the mountains of Israel. Ez. 39 : 17, 
18, 23. 3t can therefore refer to no 
other place but mount Moriah, where 
human blood ran down the face of the 
hill in such torrents as to put out the 
fire of many of the houses. 

The original name np.^ mo-re. 
yah, the bitterness of Jehovah, from 
nifa to be bitter, grievous, because 
here Abraham was called upon to of- 
fer up his only son Isaac ; but God 
promised that a lamb should be sub- 
stituted in his stead, that is, the Lamb 
of God, that taketh away the sin of 
the world. Hence, Arab, mara, to 
substitute ; therefore the mountain of 
substitution, where God substituted 
a divine for a human sacrifice. 

17 The seventh angel. Daniel, the 
guardian angel of the church at Lao- 
dacea. This is the last minister nam- 
ed, and he had the last plague to pour 
out, the seventh and last vial ; when 
this was poured out then the mystery 
of God was rinished, and the great 
city, Babylon, destroyed. Verse 19. 

A voice from the throne. This 
seems to be a command of our Sa- 
vior, " my people come out of her, lest 
thou be partaker of her plagues;" 
abandon her as a sinking ship in the 
time of a storm. 



It is done. Finished, ended, final- 
ly and utterly destroyed. Her ruin 
is now accomplished, and all the pre- 
dictions of the Old Testament prophe- 
cies literally fulfilled in her desola- 
tion. 

" Her tale of splendor now is done ; 
" Her wine cup of festivity is spilt ; 
"And all is o'er, her grandeur and her guilt. 
" Her gold is dim, and mute her music's voice ; 
" The heathen o'er her perished pomp rejoice. 
♦'Her streets are rased, her maidens sold for 
slaves ; 

" Her gates thrown down, her elders in their 
graves ; 

" Her feasts are holden 'mid Gentile scorn ; 
" By stealth her priesthood's holy garments worn. 
" Oh long foretold, though long accomplished 
fate ; 

"Her house is left unto her desolate." 

18 Voices. May mean shouts of 
victory. 

Lightnings. The flames of the 
houses when the city was on fire. 

Earthquake. A tremendous shak- 
ing and swallowing up of the city and 
nation by the Roman army. Such a 
destruction of a city, nation, and peo- 
ple never was known since the world 
began, and the like will never take 
place while the world lasts, for we 
ha-*e the authority of our Savior for 
it. The noise of the Roman army 
was so great when they shouted for 
victory, that Josephus ordered his 



REVELATION, 



223 



19 And the great city was divided into three parts, 
and the cities of the nations fell : and great Babylon 
came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the 
cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 



men to stop their ears. This was done 
to prevent his men from being dis- 
couraged when they heard such tre- 
mendous shouts. 

19 And the great city. Of Jeru- 
salem. See Isaiah, 29 : 6 ; chapter 
14 : 8. 

Was divided into three parts. 
There never was a prophecy more 
exactly and literally fulfilled than this. 
And indeed the whole book seems to 
be made up of prophecies which in a 
few years after they were delivered 
were all literally fulfilled. And this 
very fact proves the book beyond all 
doubt to be an inspired book, for the 
Spirit of Christ is the gift of pro- 
phecy. Hence the city was divided 
into three parts as predicted, and go- 
gerned by three distinct factions, and 
headed by three leaders, Simon, John, 
and Eleazar, who fought furiously 
with each other, i. e. in the third year 
of the war. Simon had the remotest 
and largest parts of the walls under 
him ; John had the middle parts of 
the city under him ; and Eleazar had 
fortified the temple itself. John" and 
Simon were superior in multitude and 
strength of arms ; but Eleazar was 
superior by his situation ; while bat- 
tles, factions, and burnings were com- 
mon to all ; and a vast quantity of 
corn was consumed by fire through 
the seditious, which brought on a tre- 
mendous famine among them. Se- 
Tacit. book 5, chap. 12. And Jose- 



phus, in like manner observes, that 
there were three treacherous factions 
in the city, the one parted from the 
other. Eleazar and his party, that 
kept the sacred first fruits, came 
against John in his cups. Those that 
were with John plundered the popu- 
lace, and went out with zeal against 
Simon. This Simon had his supply 
of provisions from the city, in opposi- 
tion to the seditious. See War, book 
5, 1 : 4, 5 ; chap, 9 : 21. 

And the city of the nations fell. 
That is, Babylon the great. She was 
feared, reverenced, adored, and re- 
sorted to by all the nations of the 
earth as the city of the Great King : 
that is, of heaven. But when he took 
his final departure from it, it became 
a den of thieves, a city of murderers 
and robbers, which was the cause of 
the nations of the earth detesting and 
abhorring it, and they all combined to 
utterly destroy and tear it up, root 
and branch. See chap. 14 : S, 17, 13. 

Came in remembrance before God. 
Her murders, persecutions, frauds, 
oppressions, contempt of God and his 
holy ordinances, her adulteries, di- 
vorces between man and wife for the 
most trifling offence, her worldly gran- 
deur and glory, her high and lofty, 
her haughty and contemptuous looks 
towards the poor, the oppressed, 
and the needy, came before Him in 
judgment, and he is now determined 
to put her wickedness in one scale and 



224 NOTES ON THE 

20 And every island fled away, and the mountains 
were not found. 

21 And there tell upon men a great hail out of hea- 
ven, every stone about the weight of a talent : and men 



his justice in the other, and to punish 
her in proportion to her crime. This 
is a quotation from Jer. 25 : 15, 16, 
and proves beyond doubt that Babel 
means Jerusalem. 

20 Every Island. See chapter 
6 : 14. 

21 Great hail out of heaven. Tre- 
mendous showers of darts, missiles, 
and large stones of the weight of a ta- 
lent, that is, sixty pounds each ; fifty 
or sixty of these were thrown at a time 
into their city and against their houses. 
The engines threw them with such 
force that they were like the broad- 
side of a seventy -four ; and I have no 
doubt but broadsides from such ves- 
sels originated in some measure from 
these engines, and the vast quantities 
of stones which they threw into the 
city. This was exactly the weight 
of the stones thrown upon the Jews 
by the engines of the Roman army, 
i. e. about sixty pounds. The words 
of Josephus, I think, are sufficient to 
prove this point. He says that the 
engines that all the legions had ready 
prepared for them were admirably 
constructed, but still more extraordi- 
nary ones belonged to the tenth le- 
gion. Those that threw darts, and 
those that threw stones, were more 
forcible and larger than the rest, by 
which they not only repelled the ex- 
cursions of the Jews, but drove those 
away that were on the walls also. 
Now the stones that were cast were 



of the weight of a talent, and were 
carried two furlongs and farther ; the 
blow they gave was no way to be 
sustained, not only by those that stood 
first in the way, but b}^ those that 
were beyond them for a great space. 
See War,, book 5, 6:3. And he far- 
ther observes, that any one may learn 
the force of these engines by what 
happened this very night, for as one 
of those who stood round about my- 
self was near the wall, his head was 
carried away by such a stone, and his 
skull was flung as far as three fur- 
longs. See War, book 3, 7: 23. Ta- 
citus likewise agrees with Josephus 
in this respect. He says that no bo- 
dy of men could be so strong as not 
to be overthrown, to the last rank, by 
the largeness of these stones. For the 
remaining part of this verse see verse 
nine. 

And men blasphemed God. They 
were deceived by false Christs, who 
promised ihem deliverance ; and as 
there was no hope of deliverance from 
the Romans, they continued to die 
as they lived, cursing Christ and his 
holy religion. Christ had threatened 
them with this punishment if they 
did not repent, and in their dying mo- 
ments they recollected his predictions 
on the cross when about to crucify 
him. See Is. 8 : 21. 

In conclusion, we say that the 
events set forth in this chapter have 
been literally and wonderfully fulfill- 



REVELATION. 



225 



blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail ; for 
the plague thereof was exceeding great. 



ed in Judea and upon the city of Je- any other city or country in the 
rusalem, and can never be applied to world. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



AND there came one of the seven angels which had 
the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come 
hither ; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great 
whore that sitteth upon many waters ; 



This chapter is a comment on the 
whole of this book, a key to unlock 
the whole mystery of the book of 
Revelation. 

1 One of the angels. Of the seven 
churches of Asia. 

The great whore. That is of Ba- 
bylon, who has broken her marriage 
covenant, abandoned her devoted hus- 
band, and is now playing the harlot 
with many lovers. She was married 
to Jehovah, broke her marriage vows, 
backslid in heart and life, and then 
joined affinity with the riches, honors, 
pleasures, amusements, and vanities 

29 



of the world. She sought wealth and 
obtained it, and finally lost her soul 
by it. Her husband is now legally 
divorced from her, and she therefore 
could claim no mercy from him ; the 
law pointed out her punishment, viz. 
that she should be burned with fire. 
This text explains the whole mystery 
of who this abandoned woman is, for 
Ezekiel calls Jerusalem (Chaldee) the 
mother of harlots, and abominations 
of the earth. Chap. 16: 3, 15, 16, 17, 
18, 28, 29, 45. H^T in Isaiah, 1 : 21, 
means an apostate, backslider in heart 
and life. The harlot, therefore, was 



226 



NOTES ON THE 



2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed 
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been 
made drunk' with the wine of her fornication. 



Jerusalem, a fallen church and peo- 
ple. See Lam. 1 : 17.* 

That sitteth on many waters. That 
hath spiritual dominion over many- 
nations ; they were all tributary to 
her. Waters, in a symbolic sense, 
means nations. f 

2 The kings of the earth have com- 
mitted fornication. They lavished 
their gifts, wealth and ornaments on 
her, in order to become rich through 
her commerce, for it was very exten- 
sive. She sent ships into every part 



of the world, even to Sheba, for gold, 
silver, ivory, blue and purple, &c. 
The fact is, she was so rich herself 
that thousands made large fortunes 
through her pride and worldly gran- 
deur. See Ez. 16 : 334 

Have been made drunk. Enrap- 
tured, delighted, spiritually intoxica- 
ted with her wealth and princely 
equipage. 

The wine of her fornication. Love 
of wealth, worldly honor, covetous- 
ness, avariciousness. 



* The spiritual whore is that great city, namely, Jerusalem. See verse 18. She is 
called great because she had corrupted the whole world by her fornications. See Jer. 3 : 
1, 2, and Is. 1:21; 24:5. 

t The waters signify multitudes of people, and nations, and tongues. Verse 15. And 
sitting means dominion. Chapter 18 : 7. Before she broke her marriage covenant, and 
played the harlot with many lovers, her husband, the Lord of glory, had made her mis- 
tress of the world. Jerusalem, formerly, was honored above every other city on a reli- 
gious account ; but she broke the everlasting- covenant, transgressed the law, and defiled 
the whole world by her whoredoms. The Lord, therefore, had her burnt alive with fire, 
for her backsliding.?. Verse 16. Josephus observes, that neither its great antiquity, nor 
its vast riches, nor the diffusion of its nation over all the habitable earth, nor the greatness 
of the veneration paid to it on a religious account, had been sufficient to preserve it from 
being destroyed. See Josephus, War, book 6, 10. 

+ She was the cause that produced the effect of their defilement ; but they first disco- 
vered her hatred to her husband, and then sought means of seducing her. See the case 
of Balaam, chap. 2:14. The world drank in so much of her pernicious spirit that, like 
herself, they became insensible to every thing that was good. See Jer. 51:7. O Chris- 
tian, take warning by this. The eyes of the world are on you : they are watching over 
your life and conduct, and if both do not correspond with the gospel, they will reproach 
the cause of God through you, and they will make your conduct a plea to justify them- 
selves in sin. But remember, if your example is the means of the loss of one soul, hi* 
blood will be required at your hands in the day of judgment. 



REVELATION. 



227 



3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilder- 
ness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, 
full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten 
horns. 

4 And the woman w r as arrayed in purple and scarlet- 
color, and decked with gold and precious stones and 
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomina- 
tions and filthiness of her fornication : 



3 Carried me into the wilderness. 
Through which Israel passed to the 
promised land. John knew by this 
that the church which was in the wil- 
derness was the church that played 
the harlot in Judea. 

I saw a woman sit. She was ruled 
and governed by the scarlet-colored 
beast, that is, the great red dragon. 
Chap. 12 : 3. 

Full of names of blasphemy. That 
is, the beast was full of these names, 
viz. titles of the Deity, which were 
applied to idols of wood and stone. 
See chap. 13 : 18.* 



Seven heads and ten horns. See 
verses 10-12, and chap. 12 : 3. 

4 Arrayed in purple and precious 
stones. She was ornamented with 
very valuable stones, and her temples 
and houses were built of the most cost- 
ly white marble. This was part of 
her princely equipage. Their temple, 
houses and persons were adorned with 
these precious stones, as well as all the 
other costly ornaments named in the 
text. Compare Ezekiel, chapter 16, 
with this verse, and you will find the 
prophet applies the whole to Jerusa- 
lem, f 



* It is blasphemy for a creature to assume any name of Deity. This was the case with 
the principal part of the Roman emperors until the reign of Constantine, who was the 
first emperor that embraced the Christian religion. 

t Josephus, when speaking of the temple, observes, that there were nine of the gates of 
the temple on every side covered over with gold and silver, as were the jambs of their 
doors and their lintels. The first gate of the inner court was seventy cubits high and 
twenty-four cubits broad ; its front, was covered all over with gold, as was its whole wall 
about it : it had also a golden vine about it, from which clusters of grapes hung as tall as 
a man's height. He also observes that it had golden doors of fifty-five cubits altitude, and 
sixteen in breadth. But before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the 
doors. It was a Eabylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, 
and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. See Josephus, War, book 5, 
5 : 4. See 3 v. 4 : 30 ; Ezek. 16 : 13 ; and Exod. 25 : 4 ; 26 : 31. 

The same author further observes, when speaking of the stones with which the towers 



228 



NOTES ON THE 



5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYS- 
TERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER 
OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE 
EARTH. 



A golden cup in her hand. The 
temple, which was covered all over 
with large plates of gold, and built 
on a hill that resembled a bowl. It 
was called by all nations a house of 
prayer, but they had, by their vile 
traffic, made it a den of thieves. See 
Matt. 21 : 12.* 

5 Mystery. Of iniquity. Her cup 
was now full and running over. It 
was a mystery to John and the world 
how a church so famous for piety 
should become so vile, infamous, and 
impure. But, like the sow that was 
washed, she returned to her wallow- 



ing in the mire ; her last state was 
worse than her beginning.! 

Babylon. The city of confusion, 
of idolatry, impiety, disregard of God 
and his ordinances. The fact is they 
became worse than the heathen ; they 
came from Babylon imbued with her 
principles, language, and vile habits. 
See chap. 14 : 84 

The great. The notorious city for 
impiety, far worse than the country 
from whence she came, that is, Baby- 
lon, literally. See chap. 16 : 19. The 
same expression is applied to Jerusa- 
lem. Chap. 10 : 8. 



were built, that their largeness was wonderful, for they were not made of common small 
stones, nor of such large ones only a* men could carry, but they were of white marble, cut 
out of the rock ; each stone was twenty cubits in length, and ten in breadth, and five in 
depth. They were so exactly united to one another that each tower looked like one en- 
tire rock of stone, growing so naturally. See Josephus, War, book 5, 4 : 5. 

* She polluted it by her spiritual whoredoms. Formerly, when faithful to her husband, 
she was also faithful to his business, and very particular that his house should be kept in 
order, and that unholy persons should not be permitted to tread in its sacred courts. But 
now she has played the whore, forsaken her husband, and left his house to be defiled and 
his property to be devoured by strangers. See Ezek. 16 : 35-38. 

t Mystery of Iniquity. — St. Paul declares this abounded already on the part of the 
Jews. See 2 Thess. 2 : 7. Drunkenness, deception, fornication, adultery, sorcery, witch- 
craft, murder, robbery, lying, Sabbath breaking, swearing, swindling, idolatry, envy, an- 
ger, and revenge, began to abound more and more on her part. About the time this book 
was written the measure of their iniquity was full to the brim. 

X The Mother of Harlcts. — The children trod in the very same steps of their whorish 
mother. She had backslidden from the way of life, and so had they. She had forsaken 
her husband and played the whore, and so did they. She shed innocent blood, and so did 
her children. 



REVELATION. 



229 



6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of 
the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : 
and when I saw her I wondered with great admiration. 

7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou 
marvel ? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, f and 
of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads 
and ten horns. 



The mother of harlots. The old 
harlot, and the worst of all harlots. 
She brought forth a brood of serpents, 
a generation of vipers, who were fit 
fuel for eternal burnings. If a city, 
she certainly must be a spiritual har- 
lot, and an apostate from God and re- 
ligion, and must refer to Jerusalem, 
and no other, for it was here our Lord 
was crucified, and the two witnesses 
put to death. See Is. 1 : 21 : Ezek. 
16:36; Ps. 106 : 39. 

Abominations of the earth. She was 
hated, detested, despised, ridiculed, 
and abhored by all who had inter- 
course with her. It is a fearful thing 
to depart from the living God. He 
pities poor sinners, but can make no 
allowance for the backslider. Lord 
teach us to number our days that we 
may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 

6 Drunken. Blind, stupid, and in- 
sensible to her wickedness and her 
punishment.* 



The blood of the saints. The apos- 
tles and prophets, and the blood of all 
the righteous slain from the founda- 
tion of the world. It was all to come 
on that very generation. 

The martyrs of Jesus. The chris- 
tian believers whom she put to death 
for asserting that Jesus of Nazareth 
is the true Messiah. She was the 
Alpha and Omega of all the persecu- 
tion that came on the church. 

I wondered with great admiration. 
That is, he wondered exceedingly, 
viz. who this woman could be. But 
the angel explained the whole myste- 
ry to him. She is the national church, 
which has apostatised from God. 

7 Wherefore didst thou marvel ? 
"Why be in doubt or difficulty about 
it? Surely, John, I will explain all 
about her.f 

The beast that carries her. The 
emperor or king that rules and go- 
verns her. 



* She had shed so much innocent blood that it threw her into a state of spiritual intox. 
ication. She was both blind and stupid, entirely insensible to every thing that was good. 
Chap. 11:8. 

t I will give you a perfect understanding of who they both are. The one is a king lite- 
rally, and the other a queen spiritually. The woman is Jerusalem, and the beast is Nero, 
the Roman emperor. 



230 



NOTES ON THE 



8 The beast that thou sawest, was, and is not; and 
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdi- 
tion : and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, 
(whose names were not written in the book of life from the 
foundation of the world,) when they behold the beast that 
was, and is not, and yet is. 

9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven 



8 The h east thou sawest. That is, 
the great red dragon already alluded 
to. Chap. 12: 3. 

Was. Emperor. 

And is not. He is not emperor. 
He is now dethroned. 

And yet is. That is, alive after 
losing the empire, a thing seldom or 
ever known before. This was about 
A. D. 69 * 

Shall ascend out of the bottomless 
pit. That is, out of Rome, to go into 
perdition, to be with his father, the 
devil, for ever and ever. 

Shall wonder. Shall be astonished 
at his degradation and fall. An em- 



peror who, ten years since, could com- 
mand the wealth of the universe, and 
now is so far reduced, degraded, and 
detested by all as not to be able to 
command a cup of cold water or a 
morsel of bread. God had marked 
him out as an object of his eternal dis- 
pleasure. He refused the suffering 
Christians the smallest favor, of even 
a glass of water when dying at the 
stake, as innocent victims of his rage 
and malignity ; and God, in his dying 
moments, refused him a cup of cold 
water, f 

9 The seven heads. Mean seven 
kings, emperors. See chap. 12 : 3, 4. 



* When Nero heard that Galba had declared against him, he cried out that he was 
ruined. His nurse, endeavoring to comfort him, told him that the like things happened 
to other princes before him ; he replied, he was beyond all example miserable, who lost an 
empire while yet living. See Suet, in Nero, 40. 

t This emperor had arrived to such a high degree of wealth and honor as to be able to 
shoe his horses with silver ; but afterwards became so far reduced as to be without shoes 
himself, or even decent clothes to wear. And not only this, but a little before he killed 
himself he asked Phaon, his freed man, at whose house he was concealed, to give him 
something to eat; he offered him bread, but it was so black that his stomach sickened at 
the sight ; and the water he gave him to drink was foul, but thirst obliged him to swallow 
the nauseous draught. See Murphy's Appendix to the 16th book of Tacitus, page 418* 
Suetonius observes that he never travelled with less than a thousand carts attending him 
with his baggage ; the mules being all shod with silver, and the drivers dressed in scarlet 
clothes of the finest wool. This may be another reason why St. John calls him a red 
dragon. He was a second Nebuchadnezzar. 



REVELATION. 



231 



heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 

10 And there are seven kings : five are fallen, and one 
is, and the other is not yet come ; and when he cometh 
he must continue a short space. 

11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the 
eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 



Seven mountains. Seven kings, ru- 
lers, or head men of the nation. The 
Indians generally call the king father, 
head of the family or nation. See 
chap. 6 : 14. 

On which the woman sitteth. By 
whom she is ruled, governed, and 
kept in subjection. She is said to sit 
on the scarlet-colored beast, (verse 3,) 
and this beast is called the great red 
dragon, with his seven heads, and 
himself one of them. Chap. 12 : 3. 
So that the mountains are the heads 
beyond a shadow of doubt. See chap. 
13:7* 

10 Seven kings. Here, then, he 
explains what he means by moun- 
tains, that is, kings or emperors, viz. 
Julius Csesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Ca- 



ligula, Claudius, and Nero ; and the 
other, Galba, has not yet come, but 
will immediately come, and will con- 
tinue only a very short time. He 
was declared emperor A. D. 69, and 
beheaded A. D.70. He reigned only 
three monihs, according to Dio. 

11 He is the eighth. That is, Nero. 
He is the eighth, if we reckon Pom- 
pey, who was the first that brought 
the Jews into subjection, and acted as 
emperor a short time. So that the 
woman was ruled and governed by 
all these emperors. But John may 
include Vespasian himself as one of 
the heads, as he was one prospective- 
ly. This therefore must refer to the 
Roman empire, and not to any other 
nation under heaven. f 



* This is only a figurative mode of expression, to show that they were the kings by 
which she was governed. Some interpret the seven mountains to be the seven hills on 
which Rome was built. But this interpretation could have no connection with the text. 
But even if it were so, it would be as applicable to the. city of Jerusalem as to Rome, for 
she was under the dominion of the Romans, and Rome was the seat of government. 

t He was the eighth emperor, if we take Tompey into the number, who was the first 
that brought the Jews into subjection to the Romans. St. John does not call him a king, 
as he does the other seven heads, because he never was declared emperor; yet he reckons 
him among the others because he was at the head of affairs, and acted as an emperor for 
some time, until he was subdued by Julius Ca?sar. But some assert that Verginius Ru- 
fus, who at that time commanded on the Upper Rhine, was declared emperor by the 
legions under his command. See Appendix to the 16th book of Tacitus ; and if this he 
true, then Nero must have been the eighth emperor. 



i 



232 



NOTES ON THE 



12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, 
which' have received no kingdom as yet ; but receive 
power as kings one hour with the beast. 

13 These have one mind, and shall give their power 
and strength unto the beast. 

14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the 
Lamb shall overcome them : for he is Lord of lords, and 
King of kings : and they that are with him are called, 
and chosen, and faithful. 



And is of the seven. Is reckoned 
among the seven emperors. 

12 The ten horns. Of the dragon. 
Chap. 12:3. 

Are ten kings. Governors, gene- 
rals, who are only acting as such for 
a short time under the dragon, until 
the war in Judea is ended. 

One hour. A very short time ; this 
may mean the short time of the dra- 
gon's reign, which among other things 
was revealed to John in Patmos.* 

13 They have one mind. They all 
see and feel alike, and will now act 



alike : they are of opinion that the 
war in Judea is a just one, and that 
the mother of harlots deserves punish- 
ment, f 

And shall give their power and 
strength to the least. Shall send all 
the army money and provisions under 
their control to Nero, to assist him in 
carrying on the war against the rebel- 
lious Jevvs4 

14 Make war with the Lamb. De- 
clare war against his kingdom as well 
as that of Israel. But king Jesus 
need but send out one of his minis- 



* We see from this that the Roman empire was not divided into kingdoms until after 
the fall of Babylon ; so that Rome could not be the city intended by Babylon, for the em- 
pire was first divided into kingdoms, and the kings had actually received their kingdoms? 
before the downfal of Rome. See chap. 12:3. 

f But who are ihese ten kings or governors ? This is difficult to determine. The text 
does not say they never had kingdoms before, but they had received no kingdoms as yet 
from the beast. They had received power as kings from him, but this was to continue a 
very short time. I am inclined to think that Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Agrippa, Antiochus, 
Aristobulus, Sohemus, Vespasian, Tiberius Alexander, and Cestius Gallus, are the ten 
horns alluded to, 

% Josephus observes, there were a considerable number of auxiliaries got together, to 
the main body of the army, that came from the kings Antiochus, and Agrippa, and Sohe- 
mus, each of them contributing one thousand footmen, that were archers, and a thousand 
horsemen. See War, book 3, 4 : 2 ; and for more on this subject see book 3, 1 : 3. 



REVELATION. 



233. 



15 And he saith unto me, the waters which thou saw- 
est, where the whore sitteth. are peoples, and multitudes, 
and nations, and tongues. 

16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the 
beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her de- 
solate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her 
with fire. 



tering spirits and in one night lie snail 
destroy 185,000 men. When he com- 
mands them on the one hand to de- 
stroy the Jews, he controls them on 
the other; so that they have no pow- 
er to hurt the christians. See chap. 
11:7.* 

They that are with him. His offi- 
cers and soldiers, ministers and mem- 
bers.! 

Are called. To obtain salvation, 
and to preach it to the world. 

And chosen. Selected from the 
church and the world, to preach 
Christ and him crucified to Jews and 
Gentiles. See John, 15 : 16. 

And faithful. In the discharge of 
every duty, and to the interest of their 
Lord and Master. Blessed servants, 



you now rest from your arduous la- 
bors, afflictions, persecutions, and 
your works do follow you. You are 
now happy with your master in glory. 

15 The waters ichich thou sawest. 
Are people, and tongues, and nations. 
See verse 1. She had spiritual do- 
minion over the earth until she played 
the harlot and exposed her nakedness 
to the world. They then abandoned 
her, and were determined to utterly 
destroy her. The Jewish church was 
the only true church on earth until 
she apostatised. 4: 

16 Shall hate the whore. Despise, 
abhor, abandon, give her up as a dead 
carcass. She is diseased ; from the 
very crown of her head to the soles of 
her feet is nothing but wounds, bruis- 



* That is, with the followers of the Lamb, namely, the Christians ; they shall use their 
endeavor to destroy the superstitious Christians, as well as the wicked Jews. See chap. 
13 : 7. But, thanks be to God, they did not prevail, the Lamb of God overcame them ; 
they eat the flesh off the whore, and burnt her with fire. Bat the prudent, pious woman, 
the Lamb's wife, ilew from her enemies into the wilderness. See chap. 12 : 14. 

t His successors in the ministry, namely, his apostles, who were made priests and kings 
for the service of God. See chap. 1:6. They were formerly his colleagues when on 
earth, and he promised to make them his companions in glory, if faithful unto death. 

: Here we have a clear understanding of what is meant by the woman sitting upon 
many waters. The woman was the city spoken of in the 18th verse, and the waters re- 
presented a vast multitude of people and nations. See Jer. 51 : 13. 

30 



234 



NOTES ON THE 



17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, 
and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until 
the words of God shall be fulfilled. 

18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great 
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 



es, and putrifying sores, which have 
not been bound up nor molified with 
ointment. Her disease is so interwo- 
ven with her whole system that she 
Is incurable ; no medicine can restore 
her to soundness of body or mind. 

Will make her desolate. Leave her 
without house, home, lands, children, 
money, or friends. 

And naked. Strip her of all her 
ornaments of silver and gold, purple 
and scarlet, elegant embroidery, nee- 
dle-work, and princely equipage.* 

Eat her flesh. Consume it off her 
bones by fire and faggot, famine, pes- 
tilence, and the sword. Ez. 24 : 9, 10. 
Jer. 7: 33. f 

17 God hath put it into their hearts 
to do his will. He commanded them 
to do it as an act of strict justice to the 
church and the world. She certainly 
is not fit to live any longer. When 
she is destroyed Christianity shall 



then spread into every part of the 
universe, and her fall be the enrich- 
ing of the Gentiles. 

Until the words of God shall be 
fulfilled. That is, the prophecies of 
God our Savior shall be all accom- 
plished on her. See Luke, 21 : 22. 
She may then look on him whom 
she has pierced, and mourn as a wo- 
man for her only child. In the end of 
the world she ma} 7 repent, believe, 
and be restored to the favor of God. 

18 That great city. See chapter 
14 : 8. 

Which reigneth over the kings of the 
earth. She has them in spiritual sub- 
jection; but the kingdom is now going 
to be taken from her and given to a 
nation that will bring forth the fruits 
thereof. The saints shall now possess 
the kingdom for ever and ever. See 
chap. 21 : 24, 254 

Here, then, is a most remarkable 



* They plundered the city, and carried off the spoil, and stripped their temple and 
houses of every thing that was valuable or worth carrying away. See the chapter and 
verse last quoted, and Ezek. 16 : 39. Josephus says that after the temple was burnt the 
soldiers had such vast quantities of the spoils, which they had gotten by plunder, that in 
Syria a pound weight of gold was sold for half its former value. 

t This was a punishment the law of Moses inflicted on prostitutes literally ; and the 
Lord, in strict justice, punished this spiritual prostitute in the same manner. See Ezek. 
16 : 33. 

t That is, spiritually. This is evident from the 2d verse, where it is said she corrupted 
the kings of the earth, or they were corrupted through her means, or through her fornica- 
tions. Every nation under heaven respected Jerusalem on a religious account ; the tern' 



REVELATION. 



235 



chapter, the events of which can 
never be applied to any other city 
hut Jerusalem. She is called by 
Ezekiel and John, the mother of 
harlots, also Sodom and Babel, or 
Chaldee; and her punishment accord- 
ing to the Jewish law, as a spiritual 
prostitute, is clearly pointed out in 
chap. 16: 40, 41 ; and this for violat- 
ing her covenant with God in her 



youth. The Jews were his only co- 
venant and chosen people; the Gen- 
tiles were not : see verses 59, 60 ; and 
his covenant people are called by the 
prophet, Jerusalem, Ez. 16 : 2, 3. 

We assert, therefore, in conclusion, 
that it is morally impossible to apply 
the events set forth in the preceding 
part of this book to any other nation 
on earth but that of the Jews. 



pie itself was a building that exceeded every other building in the world. Their own his- 
torian says it was the most admirable of all the works we had seen or heard of, both for 
its curious structure and its magnitude, and also for the vast wealth bestowed upon it, as 
well as for the glorious reputation it had for its holiness. See War, book 6, 4:8. The 
city of Jerusalem so attracted the kings of the earth, because of its great beauty and 
magnificence, that in fact it influenced them to bestow a great part of their income upon 
it to adorn it and make it look more splendid. Those who are acquainted with Josephu^ 
history of the Jews, must know of the vast expenses that Herod, Agrippa, and othcrg 
had went to in rebuilding their temple, and fortifying and adorning this city. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



And after these things I saw another angel come down 
from heaven, having great power; and the earth was 
lightened with his glory. 



1 An angel came down from heaven. 
On a special mission. The prophet 
Isaiah came a second time to the 
Isle of Patmos to inform John that 
chap. 13 : 8, 9, of his prophecy was 



now going to be fulfilled on spiritual 
Babylon. 

The earth was lighted with his 
glory. He appeared brilliant, glori- 
ous, majestic, like his Lord and mas* 



236 



NOTES ON THE 



2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, savin o- 
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the 
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and 
a cage of everv unclean and hateful bird. 



ter. He was formerly when on earth 
a shining and a burning light; but 
now his appearance is not human, but 
angelic : so sublime and glorious that 
John mistook him for his master, and 
was going to fall prostrate at his feet 
and to worship him, but he forbid 
him: "See," says he, "thou do it 
not, for I am thy fellow servant, and 
of thy ^brethren the prophets : wor- 
ship God;" that is, our Savior. Chap. 
22 : 9.* 

How any man who calls himself a 
christian can permit another to kiss 
his foot, or worship him, is a mystery 
we cannot fathom. O the pride, pre- 
sumption, ignorance, depravity of 
poor, fallen, and degraded man j He 
would, if he could, be like God, and 
take his throne, and wear his crown ; 
Gen. 3:5. " Ye are of your father 
the devil," says our Lord, " and his 
works ye will do." The child resem- 
bles the parent in this respect. 

2 He cried mightily. Loudly, ear- 
nestly, majestically. When on earth, 



he raised his voice like a trumpet, to 
show the people their transgressions, 
and the house of Israel their sins ; but 
he came not now as a messenger of 
mercy, but as a minister of justice, to 
execute wrath on Israel because of 
their wickedness and idolatry. 

Babylon the great is fallen. It is 
utterly ruined, destroyed, and razed 
from the very foundation, not one 
stone is left on top of another ; and 
Zion is now ploughed up like a field, 
and left as a cottage in a vineyard, as 
a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as 
a besieged city. See Isaiah, 1 : 8; 21 : 
9; 13: 19. Jer. 51 : 8 ; chap. 14 : 9, 
of this book. 

And has become the habitation of 
demons. That is, the residence of 
wild, lawless, and barbarous nations, 
murderers and robbers. This may re- 
fer to the city a short time before it 
was destroyed. She fell from God 
first, and then, finally, into the hands 
of her enemies. God overthrew her 
as he did Sodom and Gomorrah, be- 



* Isaiah predicted the misery that should come upon their city aad nation, if they 
continued obstinate and rebellious against God ; and his prophecy was literally fulfilled 
upon them in the extent; and not only so, but his prophecy points out the death and suf- 
ferings of Christ, and the way of salvation, more clearly than any other book in the Old 
Testament. The sum and substance of the four gospels is contained in the prophecy of 
Isaiah ; the very name itself signifies the salvation of God. And if the world was for- 
merly so much enlightened by his preaching, how much more glorious must he have been 
at this time. 



REVELATION. 



237 



3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath 
of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have com- 
mitted fornication with her, and the merchants of the 
earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her deli- 
cacies. 

4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 



cause she brought forth a worse gene- 
ration of men and women. So her 
own historian asserts.* 

A cage of unclean birds. A gene- 
ration of vipers, a brood of serpents, a 
city of Sodomites, atheists, deists, 
murderers, robbers, &c. &c.f 

3 Have drunk of her wine. Have 
drank in her spirit of wickedness, idol- 



atry, covetousness, pride, pomp, gran- 
deur, worldly-mindedness. Chapter 
17 : 2. 

4 Another voice from heaven. The 
admonition of our Savior himself 
which he uttered forty years pre- 
vious in presence of John and the rest 
of his disciples. Matt. 24 : 16 ; Luke, 
21 : 21. See Jer. 51 : 25. 



* It is not improbable, that by devils and foul spirits here, are meant barbarous and 
wicked nations ; and if this be St. John's meaning, we have a literal fulfilment of the 
prophecy from that time to the present: it was first in subjection to the Romans, and 
afterwards to the Saracens, then to the Franks, and after this to the Mamelukes, and now 
it is in the possession of the Turks, all barbarous and savage nations. 

t The 13 : 21 and 22 verses of Isaiah are a sufficient comment on the whole of this 
verse. He said that the wild beasts of the desert should lie there, and their houses 
should be full of doleful creatures; and owls should dwell there, and satyrs dance there, 
and the wild beasts of the islands should cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their 
pleasant places. The prophet gives us a full and clear explanation of the above chapter, 
in 34: 6, 13, 14, 15. After he had laid before the Jews all the miseries which should 
come upon them and upon their city if they did not turn to the Lord again, he then ex- 
horts them, in the 16th verse, to seek out of the book of the Lord, to see for themselves 
whether these things were so or not. If the destruction of their city and nation, there- 
fore, had not been foretold by Moses, and these things were not actually contained in the 
book of the Lord, it would be impossible for the Jews to read things out of the book of 
the Lord which were not contained in it. The idea which I wish to convey, is this : that 
the prophet Isaiah must have meant by Babylon, the city of Jerusalem ; for the downfal 
of the latter was predicted by Moses, but the downfal of the former never was. And, 
another thing : the Babylonians were heathens, and of course^ were without the book of 
the Lord, and could not read these things in it. 



238 



NOTES ON THE 



Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of 
her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God 
hath remembered her iniquities. 

6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double 
unto her double, according to her works : in the cup 
which she hath filled, fill to her double. 



Come out of her my people. Aban- 
don her as a sinking ship in the time 
of a storm; if not, you shall perish 
with her. Flee, escape for your lives, 
for the avenger of blood is at your 
very heels. Jer. 51 : 6. 

That ye be not partakers of her 
sins. That is, the punishment due to 
her sins, that the innocent may not 
suffer with the guilty ; escape, there- 
fore, into the wilderness of Judea, 
where you will be safe from the 
enemy. 

5 Her sins have reached to heaven. 
Have been of the most vile and ag- 
gravating nature, and therefore merits 
the most severe punishment, both in 
this world and in that which is to 
come. 

6 Reward her as she rewarded you. 
As she treated you in the most bar- 
barous and cruel manner, she shall be 
punished in the most severe manner, 



as a just retaliation. She shall have 
judgment without mercy, which 
showed no mercy. Some of the 
christians she crucified on crosses, 
others she stoned to death ; some she 
drowned in the sea, and burned others 
to death at the stake ; and Isaiah 
the prophet was sawn asunder; and, 
finally, she crucified her own Mes- 
siah, the Lord of life and glory, and 
exclaimed, " His blood be on us and 
on our children," and this curse rests 
on them and on their children to this 
day. Lord give us grace, that we 
may never tread in her steps, nor 
come under her awful curse. Amen. 

Double unto her double. Mete out 
to her a more severe and dreadful 
punishment than she inflicted on you, 
that the world may take warning by 
her and never tread in her steps, Jest 
they should be also punished in the 
same way.* 



* For riches she shall have poverty ; for idleness, slavery ; for pride, humility; and 
for conformity to the world, and because she delighted in ornaments of gold and silver, 
she shall have to be stripped naked, and the very flesh eaten off her bones. See chap. 
17 : 16. As she gave the Lamb of God vinegar and gall to drink, and this in the midst 
of his extremity, she shall have to drink the wormwood and the gall ; and she shall have 
to drink blood in retaliation for the blood she shed. Sinner, take warning by this. The 
Lord is a just Judge, The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



REVELATION. 



239 



7 How much she hath glorified herself, arid lived de- 
Hciously, so much torment and sorrow give her : for she 
saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and 
shall see no sorrow. 



In the cup she hath filled. The 
pain, persecution, affliction and tor- 
ments, with which she punished you, 
punish her still more severely, viz. 
with the plague, pestilence, famine, 
war, and bloodshed. Let all these 
come upon her until she is utterly 
wasted and destroyed from off the 
earth.* 

7 As she hath glorified herself. 
Boasted of her wealth, national honor, 
glory, greatness, magnificence ; her 
fine houses, palaces, gardens, or- 
chards, vineyards, lakes, lawns, moun- 
tains, valleys, synagogues, temples, 
learning, people, refined, elegant, and 
educated ministry, splendid singing 
and music ; also horses, chariots, sai- 
lors, soldiers, officers, generals, &c. 
And what of all this ? she was desti- 
tute of vital religion, and must be for 
ever lost, eternally lost. 

Lived delicately. Deliriously, sump- 
tuously, every day. She sat down to 



a splendid table, had every delicacy 
the country could produce. The best 
fruit, fish, beef, mutton, vegetables 
and wines ; but she had not Jesus, and 
therefore was wretched and misera- 
ble. 

/ sit as a queen. In pomp and 
splendor, and have the wealth and 
equipage of royalty. But ah ! to- 
morrow you shall be a beggar and a 
slave for life, and your life will hang 
in doubt every moment ; you shall be 
destitute of food to eat, clothes to 
wear, a house to live in, or a bed to 
lie on ; and you shall be marched na- 
ked through the streets of Rome, 
and be ridiculed and abused, and 
your sons and daughters be sent to 
work in the mines of Egypt for life. 
Isa. 47: 2, 3. 

I am no icidow. I am the national 
established church ; my Maker is my 
husband. He is head of the church, 
and not the Pope. Aye, but you are 



* As she has been seeking after ease, honor, riches and pleasure, punish her with dis- 
grace and poverty. Moses had, long before this, declared that this should be the case. 
If they disobeyed the Lord their God, he said their life should hang in doubt before them 
continuallv. "Thou shalt fear day and night," said he, "and shait have none assurance 
of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, 1 would God it were even ' — and at even thou 
shalt say, ' would God it were morning,' for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt 
fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see." See Deut. 28 : 65, 66, 67. 
This is a wonderful chapter ; it deserves to be proclaimed on the house tops, and to be 
published in the market-places. This chapter is sufficient to confute the most obstinate 
infidel on earth, and convince the most blindfolded Jew in the world ; for when they read 
these predictions, and find that they have been literally fulfilled upon themselves, they cer- 
tainly must know that their sins have sold them, and sent them back to Egypt again. 



240 XOTES ON THE 

8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, 
and mourning, and famine ; and she shall be utterly 
burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judge th 
her. 



deceived; he was your husband, but 
he is not such now ; he abandoned 
you forty years since, because of your 
whoredoms, and will soon marry ano- 
ther wife.* 

This is precisely the language of 
all fallen national churches ; proud, 
haughty, imperious, and oppressive. 
Sheboastsof her fine palaces (church- 
es), elegant seats, splendid altars, pul- 
pits, windows, organs, choirs of sing- 
ers, her learned and eloquent minis- 
ters, rich and respectable congrega- 
tions, her magnificent colleges, and 
theological seminaries ; but what of 
all this ? God is not with you, nor 
among you. Therefore, you are 
wretched, and miserable, and poor, 
and blind, and naked, and knowest it 
not. 

For whom, pray, did you build 
such elegant and costly churches? 
Surely not for your Lord and Mas- 
ter, for he never has had his foot in- 
side of one of your churches ; and, if 



on earth, he would expel e very mem- 
ber and minister, and pull them down 
to the very foundation. What! to 
make his house a house of merchan- 
dise instead of a house of prayer — to 
build a palace for the rich, to the ex- 
clusion of the poor, who are rich in 
faith, and heirs of the kingdom. This 
will not do, especially among men 
and wome*n who profess to fear God 
and keep his commandments. 

Shall see no sorrow. Shall be rich, 
happy, prosperous, great, glorious, all 
my days. I have great wealth, pow- 
er and influence over the nations. 
What, therefore, can now mar my 
peace or make my cup bitter ? Why, 
"thou fool, this night thy soul shall 
be required of thee, and then whose 
shall these things be?"f 

8 For strong is the Lord thatjudg- 
eth her. He is able but not willing to 
punish her ; but his mercy does not 
destroy his justice, or else he would 
be unjust; a God all mercy, is a God 



* My husband has not yet forsaken me ; he is yet among 1 us as a people. And though 
it was a fact that the Lord was married to them, (see Jer. 3 : 14,) yet their abominations 
caused the Most High to depart from them. And though she was completely dead to 
him, yet he was still alive to her. She had played the harlot with many lovers, yet if she 
returned again, her merciful and compassionate husband promised to forgive her, to heal 
her backslidings, and love her freely. 

t Because she did not lay these things to heart, shall these plagues come upon her. 
She would not believe God himself, nor her own prophets who were inspired by the Spirit 
of God. But to her sorrow, she had to experience the fulfilment of these prophecies upon 
herself. See Isaiah, 47 : 7, 8, 9. 



REVELATION, 



241 



9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed 
fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail 
her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke 
of her burning. 

10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, 



unjust. A judge may, when passing 
sentence of death on the criminal, 
shed the tear of pity over him, but 
his pity cannot prevent the punish- 
ment which the law demands, and the 
sentence must be carried into execu- 
tion ; if not, we should very soon be- 
come a nation of murderers and rob- 
bers. A nation without law, is a na- 
tion without God and religion, and 
could not exist as such one year. If 
God, therefore, punishes crime in one 
instance, he certainly must, as an im- 
partial and unchangeable being, do it 
in every instance ; therefore, if he 
sends one man to hell for sin, he must 
do it with every man that sins, if not, 
he would be partial and unjust. Luke, 
16 : 23. 

9 The kings of the earth. The 
rich, great, noble rulers, governors, 
kings, emperors. 

Who com mitted fornication with her. 
Who were influenced and instigated 
by her to evil ; they loved, admired, 
cherished, applauded her pomp and 
splendor, and lavished their wealth 
on her. 



Shall bewail her. They not only 
lamented her loss, but their own also, 
for her revenue was of vast import- 
ance to the empire. See chap. 17: 2. 
Ez. 16: 26, 27, 23, 29.* 

10 Standing afar off". Here, then, 
is a fair specimen of selfish, fallen, 
human nature; when in prosperity, 
every person applauded her; when 
in adversity, they reprobated her. 
How true is that saying, " the rich 
have many friends, the poor have 
none." Well, if pious, they have God 
for their friend. In prosperity men 
will smile on you, in adversity frown 
upon you and shun your society, lest 
a favor should be asked. Oh ! how 
very different with a christian ; he 
does not act from sordid and selfish 
motives, but from a principle of pure 
benevolence, he seeks out the poor 
from the cellar to the garret, and sup- 
plies their wants. His house, his 
hand, his purse, are all open to the 
cause of Christianity. When you dis- 
cover a man, whether minister or 
member, selfish and covetous, take it 
for granted that his Christianity is at 



* Tt would have been a matter of joy to them to have seen the Jews conquered ; but 
they were sorry to see the city burned to ashes, and even the very foundations of it dug 
up, and the place where it stood ploughed like a field. Titus used all the exertions in 
his power to save the city and temple, but it was all in vain. They were fully rip^ for 
destruction, and it would have been impossible to h: ve conquered them if the temple and 
city had not been burnt. 

31 



242 



NOTES ON THE 



Alas, alas ! that great city Babylon, that mighty city ! for 
in one hour is thy judgment come. 

11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and 
mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise 
any more : 

12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious 



a low ebb, and that his feelings are 
something like Judas's, who sold his 
Master for thirty pieces of silver. 

A minister with whom I am well 
acquainted, told me he preached the 
gospel freely and fully all his life ; he 
lost all his property by endorsements 
for a man in whom he confided too 
much, because a member of the 
church. "When reduced to poverty, 
he sent for a small measure of pota- 
toes to his grocer, with whom he had 
dealt largely, and owed nothing ; this 
small amount of credit was refused, 
because he was known to be penniless. 
The poor man burst into tears upon 
receiving this new view of human na- 
ture. He would not have defrauded 
any one, yet he was used in this man- 
ner because he was poor. Here, then, 
is a specimen of fallen and depraved 
man, so selfish as to be an enemy of 
God and man. See Lam. 1: 7, 8, 9. 

In one hour is thy judgment come. 
Suddenly, unexpectedly, as a thief in 
the night ; " they cried out peace and 
safety, but sudden destruction came 
upon them, and they did not escape." 
There is but one step between wealth 
and poverty, honor and dishonor, life 
and death, time and eternity. See 
chap. 12 : 9. 

1 1 Shall weep and mourn over her. 
That is, because of their own loss in 



a commercial point of view. Yester- 
day it was all profit ; to-day it is all 
loss. When she fell many rich men 
and merchants fell with her, and lost 
ail their property by her. 

12 The merchandise of gold and 
silver. To adorn the city and tem- 
ple, and to make vessels and utensils 
for the sanctuary. It came from Tar- 
shis, a place supposed to be in Spain. 
Ezek. 27 : 12. The ark itself was 
overlaid with pure gold, within and 
without, and there was a crown of 
gold upon it round about, and the four 
rings belonging to it were pure gold, 
and the staves on which it was borne 
were overlaid with gold ; and the 
mercy-seat, which was two cubits 
and a half in length, and a cubit and 
a half in breadth, was of pure gold, 
and the two cherubims that covered 
the mercy-seat were made of such ; 
and there was a table in the temple 
made of shittim-wood, two cubits in 
length and one in breadth, and a cubit 
and a half in height, and this was 
overlaid with gold, and it had a crown 
of gold, the same as that on the ark, 
and rings and staves in like manner ; 
and the dishes, and the spoons, and 
the covers, and the bowls for this 
table, were all pure gold ; as to the 
golden candlestick, see chap. 1 : 20. 
The tongs, the snuffers, and the dish- 



REVELATION. 



243 



stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, 
and scarlet, and all thyme wood, and all manner vessels 
of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, 
and of brass, and iron, and marble, 



es for this candlestick were all pure 
gold ; and Josephus says, that "Titus 
took a table out of the temple of pure 
gold, of the weight of many talents." 
See War, book 7 : 5, 5. And for the 
vast quantities of gold that were la- 
vished on the temple, see chap. 17 : 
4; and chap. 21 : 22, 23. See Exod. 
25, &c. and Num. 7, &c. And for 
the silver vessels and utensils, see 
Exod. 26, &c. The above author 
says that there were in Solomon's 
temple an hundred thousand golden 
vials, and twice as many silver vials: 
of golden dishes to offer kneaded and 
fine flour on the altar, there were 
eighty thousand, and twice as many 
of silver : and of the measures which 
Moses called the hin, there were 
twenty thousand of gold, and twice as 
many of silver. The golden censers 
in which they carried the incense to 
the altar, were twenty thousand. The 
other censers, in which they carried 
fire from the great altar to the little 
altar, were fifty thousand : also, two 
hundred thousand silver trumpets for 
the priests to sound with. See Antiq. 
hook 8 : 3, 8, 1. And if we add to 
this the golden altar, and many other 
things that were in the temple, that 
were made of silver and gold, we shall 
find that Jerusalem was the richest 
city in the world. See Lev. 7 : 85. 

And precious stones. The above 
author, in the same chapter and sec- 
tion quoted, says, that the sacerdotal 
garments which belonged to the high- 



priest, with the long robes, and the 
oracle, and the precious stones, were 
a thousand. See Ezek. 27 : 22. 

And of pearls. See chap. 21 : 19. 

And fine linen. Josephus farther 
observes, that Solomon also made ten 
thousand sacerdotal garments of fine 
linen for the priests, with purple gir- 
dles ; and also two hundred thousand 
garments of fine linen for the singers, 
that were Levites. See the above 
chapter and section quoted. 

And purple, and silk, and scarlet. 
These were to be interwoven in the 
curtains of the tabernacle and upon 
the priests' garments. See Exod. 26 : 
36 ; and 28: 5, 6. 

And all thyine wood. This was a 
sweet smelling wood, generally used 
in adorning magnificent buildings. All 
these, namely, the precious stones, 
and the pearls, and the fine linen, 
and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and 
thyine wood, came from Syria and 
Egypt. See Ezek. 27: 7, 16; 2 
Chron. 1:16. 

And all manner vessels of ivory. 
Ivory is the teeth of elephants, and 
vessels made of this must have been 
very costly. 

And all manner vessels of most 
'precious wood. The ebony is the 
wood intended; it is very hard, valu- 
able, and of a black color, and very 
smooth. This came from Dedan, a 
place supposed to be in Arabia. See 
Ezek. 27 : 15. 

And of brass, and of iron. The 



244 



NOTES ON THE 



13 And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and 
frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and 



vessels belonging to the altar of burnt 
offering were all made of brass ; the 
pan to receive the ashes was made of 
brass ; also the shovels, and the ba- 
sins, and the flesh-hooks, and fire 
pans ; and the laver, in which Aaron 
and his sons washed their feet before 
they went into the tabernacle, were 
made of such. See Exod. 27 : 3 ; and 
30: 18. Josephus observes, that the 
brazen sea that was in Solomon's tem- 
ple contained three thousand baths : 
and he farther observes, that Solomon 
made ten large, round vessels of brass, 
which were the lavers themselves, 
each of which contained forty baths. 
See Antiq. book 8: 3, 5, G. And it is 
said in 2 Chron. 4:18, that the quan- 
tity of brass was so great that the 
weight of it could not be found out, 
and the vessels of iron were princi- 
pally for the use of the citizens. 

And marble. These vessels were 
for to hold the waters of purification. 
See John, 2: 6. And these pots are 
to be seen in Cana of Galilee to this 
day. Dr. E. Clarke, when walking 
through the ruins of a church, which 
is said to have been built over the 
spot where the marriage of Cana was 
held, saw a great many of these water 
pots among the ruins. Their original 
use seems to have been little known 
among the inhabitants. They held 
from 18 to 20 gallons. 

13 And cinnamon, and odors, and 
ointments, and frankincense. These 
were used in making the holy anoint- 
ing oil, and in the composition of per- 
fume. Two hundred and fifty shekels 



of cinnamon, and the same quantity 
of calmus, with five hundred shekels 
of myrrh, and the same quantity of 
cassia, and one hin of oil, was the 
quantity necessaray, according to the 
law of Moses, to make the holy anoint- 
ing oil. See Exod. 30 : 23; and for 
the composition of perfume, see verse 
34. Josephus says, that the treasu- 
rer of the temple, whose name was 
Phineas, was seized on, and showed 
Titus the coats and girdles of the 
priests, with a great quantity of pur- 
ple and scarlet, which were there de- 
posited for the uses of the veil ; as 
also a great deal of cinnamon and cas- 
sia, with a large quantity of other 
sweet spices, which were mixed to- 
gether and offered as incense to God 
every day. See War, book 6: 8, 3. 

And wine, and oil, and fine flour. 
These were all used in the consecra- 
tion of the altar, before the people 
offered their daily sacrifices. The 
above author observes, that the law 
required that in public and private 
sacrifices the finest flour should be 
brought ; for a lamb, the measure of 
one-tenth deal; for a ram, two; and 
for a bull, three. This they conse- 
crate upon the altar when it is min- 
gled with oil; for oil is also brought 
by those that sacrifice ; for a bull the 
half of a hin, and for a ram the third 
part of the same measure, and one- 
quarter of it for a lamb. They bring 
the same quantity of oil that they do 
of wine, and they pour the wine about 
the altar ; but if any one does not 
offer a complete sacrifice of animals, 



REVELATION. 



245 



wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, 
and slaves, and souls of men. 



but brings fine flour only for a vow, 
be throws a handful upon the altar as 
its first fruits, while the priests take 
the rest for their food. See Antiq. 
book 3 : 9, 4 ; and Num. 28 : 14 ; also 
Lev. 7: 19. But if we add to this 
the vast quantity of fine flour that 
was used in baking unleavened bread 
for the yearly passover, and for the 
use of the citizens, we shall find that 
the city of Jerusalem had a greater 
demand for fine flour than any other 
city in the wortd at the celebration of 
their yearly passover. In the year of 
our Lord 65, their own historian ob- 
serves that there were no less than 
three millions present, that is, of Jews 
and proselytes, who had come from 
different parts of the world on this oc- 
casion. See War, book 2 : 14, 3, 3. 
And he farther observes, in another 
place, that the seditious emptied the 
vessels of that sacred wine and oil 
which the priest kept to be poured on 
the burnt offerings, which lay in the 
inner court of the temple, and distri- 
buted it among the multitude, who, in 
their anointing themselves and drink- 
ing, used each of them above a hin. 
See War, 5, 13, 6. 

And wheat. The Jews had a vast 
quantity of grain and other provisions 
in store at Jerusalem before they went 
to war with the Romans; but it was 
afterwards consumed by the seditious, 
and this was the cause of so great a 



famine in the city; and they gene- 
rally kept a large quantity of grain 
and other provisions in store to pre- 
vent a famine. Judah and the land 
of Israel supplied Jerusalem with 
wheat, and pannag, and honey, and 
oil, and balm. See Ezek. 27 : 17. 
And from this we may learn that 
Ezekiel had been prophesying of Je- 
rusalem under the name of Tyrus, for 
it was contrary to Jewish customs 
either to buy or receive oil as a dona- 
tion from the heathen nations. See 
Josep. Antiq. 12 : 3, 1. If we view 
this prophecy q# having reference to 
the destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Roman army, and suppose that by 
Tyrus Ezekiel meant Jerusalem, lite- 
rally ; and by the city, called by that 
name in the 26th chap, and 2d verse, 
he meant the new Jerusalem, namely, 
the Church of Christ, then the diffi- 
culty ceases; and if we allow that 
the northern army spoken of in the 
7th verse had reference to the Ro- 
mans, then we may interpret the 26th, 
27th, and 28th chapters of Ezekiel 
without any contradiction ; but those 
who interpret them literally, will find 
some difficulties which they will ne- 
ver be able to surmount ; for until 
they can apply the 28th chap. 13th, 
14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th 
verses to Tyrus, literally, it must be 
allowed that Jerusalem is the city to 
which the prophet had reference.* 



* As ^2 Zor, Tyrus means the oppressor, persecutor, it cannot be referred to Tyre, 
for she was mild and peaceable ; but Jerusalem is called the city of oppression in various 
parts of the Scriptures. Is. 5:7; 30 : 12 ; 53 : 7. Jer. 6 : 6. 



246 



NOTES ON THE 



And leasts and sheep. The beasts 
have reference to oxen and goats, and 
the sheep, to rams and lambs. See 
Ezekiel, 27 : 21. These were pur- 
chased principally for their sacrifices. 
There were slain at their yearly pass- 
over no less than two hundred and 
fifty-six thousand five hundred lambs; 
and not only this, but there were sa- 
crifices offered daily, both morning 
and evening. So that between all 
that were slain for the use of the city 
and for their sacrifices, they must 
have purchased a vast number of 
sheep, lambs, goats, and oxen. See 
Exod. 29 : 1, 2 ; and Lev. 8 : 14, 18. 

And horses and chariots. Solomon 
in his day built a vast number of 
cities or places for horses and chariots 
round about Jerusalem and in Judea. 
Perhaps these were built for the con- 
venience of those who came up to 
Jerusalem from different parts of the 
world to celebrate the yearly pass- 
over. See 2 Chron. 9: 24, 25; and 
Isa. 2 : 7. These came from Togor- 
mah, a place suppposed to lie in Asia 
Minor. Some have endeavored to 
prove that Jerusalem was not a com- 
mercial city ; but that she traded in 
all these things is evident from the 
word of God. See 2 Chron. 2 : 7. 

Slaves and souls of men. Souls and 
bodies of men. She trafficked in both; 
one literally, and the other spiritu- 
ally. She traded in slaves abroad 
and at home ; she corrupted and led 
astray her own people because of fil- 
thy lucre. See 2 Kings, 17 : 19 ; Isa. 
50 : 1 ; Joel, 3 : 6. 

When delivered from Egyptian 
bondage she covenanted with God 
never to tolerate slavery in the na- 
tion, but to substitute servitude in the 
place of it. This promise she vio- 



lated, and God punished her most se- 
verely for it. Jer. 34 : 13, 14, 15, 16, 
17. Two distinct classes of servants 
are named in the last verse, Jew and 
Gentile, a-chiv, a brother, a 

Jew, Hebrew by birth; n^ 1 "! ra eh, 
a stranger, proselyte, friend, viz. of 
Judaism. The moment a proselyte 
became such, he then was by law en- 
titled to all the immunities of a He- 
brew servant ; circumcision was the 
seal of his citizenship, and changed 
his relation in reference to his servi- 
tude. The Rabbins assert "that she 
covenanted to hold no Hebrew servant 
longer than seven years, and no Gen- 
tile longer than the year of Jubilee ; 
then all civil contracts, they say, 
ceased, became null and void. One 
was bound for seven years, the other, 
probably, twenty-one, or to the jubi- 
lee, whether a longer or shorter pe- 
riod. But this was all voluntary on 
the part of buyer and seller." If a 
Gentile wished to serve his master a 
second term, it was voluntary, and 
with the consent of his family. As 
this was a peculiar case, and provided 
for by law, he had to appear in open 
court with three witnesses, before the 
judges ; when he declared his inten- 
tion it was put on record, and as an 
evidence of the fact, his ear was bored 
through with an awl, and he was 
then to serve his master (not his own- 
er) for ever; that is, to the next jubi- 
lee. 

We see from this, then, how par- 
ticular God was to show his disap- 
probation of the vile sin of slavery. 
He has done this in every age and 
among every nation who was guilty 
of it. 

There was but one law for the 
master and the servant, the black and 



REVELATION. 



247 



the white ; both were on equal footing. 
The master did not make the law for 
the servant, nor the servant for the 
master, but God made the law that 
governed both of them ; and if the 
master treated the servant with rigor 
or oppression, a complaint was made 
to the sanhedrin, and the master had 
to appear in precisely the same kind 
of garments as the servant, that both 
might stand before the judges on equal 
footing, as the law knows no distinc- 
tion ; the judges, who were acting 
in God's stead, wished to be, like 
him, no respecter of persons. The 
master was bound by law to feed, 
clothe, educate, and correct him, (if 
he did wrong,) the same as his own 
child. He had the whole Sabbath 
and several holy days to himself. He 
attended divine worship twice every 
Sabbath without a sentinel to watch 
his movements. He ate at the same 
table and out of the same dish with 
his master; and might in the end, if 
he conducted well, become a member 
of the family ; that is, his son-in-law. 
Prov. 29 : 21. 

Husband and wife, child and pa- 
rent, brother and sister, were never 
sold nor separated. A man who can 
bring himself to such a barbarous 
practice as this, is not worthy the 
name of a man ; he has divested him- 
self of all those fine feelings which 
belong to a higher order of human 
beings. 

The Most High has discarded the 
word slave from the holy Scriptures; 
1^2* a vad is the only word to he 
found there ; it means a servant, la- 
borer, hired man, a bond man, an ap- 
prentice ; but in no sense can it be in- 
terpreted to mean a slave. 

The Jews never took away a man 



by force and fraud from his wife and 
children, kindred, country, and fami- 
ly, and sold him into slavery for life. 
This was punishable with death by 
the law of Moses, and the receiver 
was considered as bad as the thief, 
and punished in the same way. Ex. 
21: 16. 

a vad, is applied to patriarchs, 
prophets, priests, kings, angels, and 
even to Christ himself ; and can we 
for a moment suppose that they were 
slaves ? The advocates of this vile 
and sinful system would fain make 
the Bible apologise for it, and the 
Most High to be the author of it ; but 
this is a base subterfuge ; for the Bible 
(both the Old and New Testaments) 
condemn it. The Savior came to 
proclaim liberty to the captives, and 
has commanded us to take away every 
yoke from the neck of the slave. Isa. 
58: 6; Gl : 1. And he literally com- 
pelled Pharaoh by his judgments, 
signs and wonders, to liberate his peo- 
ple from bondage. 

Again : Abraham's warriors are 
pressed into the service of slavery. 
They are said by its advocates to be 
slaves ; but this is like all the rest of 
their imbecile arguments, without a 
shadow of truth. Enochims means 
spiritual warriors, champions for the 
truth ; these were a superior order of 
men to the avadims or laboring class. 
Therefore, if slaves, Enoch himself, 
who walked with God many years, 
and was one of the first and best pa- 
triarchs, was also a slave, for both 
names, in the original, are precisely 
the same. 

Great stress is laid by these very 
wise and learned men in Oriental lite- 
rature on the word n5|? ka nah, to 
huy ; but surely it does not mean to 



248 NOTES ON THE 



steal, to defraud, oppress, persecute. 
Oh no. It means to obtain, procure, 
hire, get, contract, bargain for. Exod. 
21: 2; and also to receive by faith 
. and prayer. Isa. 55: 1; Rev. 3 : 17. 
And we know that it takes two to 
make a bargain ; the buyer and seller, 
master and servant. The one could 
not buy unless the other consented to 
sell, and this must be voluntary on 
the part of each ; but if the master 
took him off by force and fraud, and 
enslaved him for life, would this, we 
ask, be buying him and paying a fair 
compensation for his services for 
twenty-one years or more ? Surely 
not. Neither Walker nor Webster 
attach such a meaning as this to the 
word buy; but the law of the land 
defines slavery to be piracy, and pu- 
nishable with death. It also declares 
" that no man," (and surely the slave 
is a man, especially in the ballot-box,) 
" shall be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without a trial first before 
a jury of his countrymen." Let this 
law, then, be put in force, and slave- 
ry is for ever abolished in the U. S. 
It is now condemned by all Christen- 
dom and by the laws of nations, and 
should be discarded by all civil and 
religious people and governments. 

If slavery was not sanctioned by 
the law of Moses, surely it cannot be 
sanctioned by the gospel, which is the 
very essence of the law ; and Christ 
came not to destroy the law, but to 
fulfil it. Love to God and our neigh- 
bor is the fulfilling of the whole law ; 
and he, therefore, who loves God, will 
love his slave as himself — will, with- 
out hesitation, liberate him and make 
a free man of him. I cannot under- 
stand how a man can be a christian 
and hold a fellow creature in cruel 
and perpetual bondage. 



But while Christianity detests, ab- 
hors and condemns slavery on the one 
hand, it does not sanction violence nor 
fraud on the other, in liberating the 
slave. If he runs away from his mas- 
ter we are solemnly bound not to re- 
store him. Deut. 23 : 15. We are 
to use all the lawful means in our 
power to liberate the poor despised 
and persecuted African slave ; but in 
doing this, we are not justified either 
in abusing the master or instigating 
the slave to insurrection. Therefore 
let every thing be done in the spirit 
of Christ, according to the law and 
gospel. 

The Egyptians paid their slaves 
according to their labor, and never 
separated husband and wife, child and 
parent. Christianity banished slavery 
for ever from the Roman empire, and 
the Roman Catholic Church has dis- 
carded it from the commencement. 

Shall Protestant ministers, then, 
throw the mantle of charity over this 
vile sin, and attempt to apologise for 
it ? God forbid. The Rabbins assert 
that the New Jerusalem (church) 
shall be free from sin, slavery, Satan, 
and the world. Zohar on Gen. folio 
13, 2. 

Finally, as the power to liberate 
the poor oppressed slave is in the 
hands of God alone, and as he de- 
livered his people of old with a high 
hand and an out-stretched arm from 
Egyptian bondage, he will deliver 
the poor, down-trodden slaves of 
America by his judgments, as he can- 
not do it by his mercies. The pesti- 
lence that walketh in darkness, and 
the destruction that wasteth at noon 
day, will soon pass through our land 
and sweep away its thousands daily, 
until the Southern States be left so- 



REVELATION. 



249 



14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are depart- 
ed from thee, and all things which were dainty and 
goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them 
no more at all. 

15 The merchants of these things which were made 
rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the fear of her tor- 
ment, weeping and wailing. 

16 And saying, Alas, alas ! that great city, that was 
clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked 
with gold, and precious stones, and pearls ! 

17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. 
And every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and 
sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 

18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burn- 
ing, saying, What city is like unto this great city ! 

19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weep- 

litary and alone, and with scarcely 17 For in one hour so great riches 

an inhabitant to bury the dead. is come to nought. That is, this city, 

14 And the fruits that thy soul lust- which was so rich, and had so much 
ed after are departed from thee. That wealth deposited in it, has come to 
is, those things described in the 12th nothing ; it has been utterly destroy- 
and 13th verses. These were the ed, and this, as it were, in a moment, 
things on which they placed their af- And every ship-master. That is, 
fections, and not on God alone. sea captain. 

And thou shalt find them no more And all the company in ships. Pas- 

at all. You shall never have such a sengers. 

city and temple again ; such vast And sailors. Those who were 

riches, so many various means of hired to work the ships, 

making money, as you have had; And as many as tradeby sea. Ship 

neither shall you have such a vast merchants. They wept bitterly, (see 

supply of provisions. And this has verse 19,) but it was for their own 

all been fulfilled upon them to the loss, and not for the loss of the city 

present period. and people. 

15 Shall stand afar ojf for the fear 19 And they cast dust on their 
of her torment. See the 10th and heads. Casting dust on the head, and 
11th verses; and for the 16th verse, rending the garment, among the Jews, 
see chap. 17 : 4, was a token of great distress. 

32 



250 



NOTES ON THE 



ing and wailing, saying, Alas, alas ! that great city, where- 
in were made rich all that had ships in the sea, by rea- 
son of her costliness! for in one hour is she made deso- 
late. 

20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles 
and prophets ; for God hath avenged you on her. 

21 And a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great 
mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with vio- 
lence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and 
shall be found no more at all. 



By reason of her costliness. This 
was the cause that produced the effect 
of her riches. If there had not been 
such a great demand for all the things 
described above, it would have been 
impossible for those merchants to have 
been made rich by her. 

For in one hour is she made deso- 
late. That is, by the abomination of 
desolations. See chap. 12:7; and 17 : 
16. 

20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven. 
That is, the heaven upon earth, 
namely, the church of Christ. 

And ye holy apostles and prophets. 
See verse 24. 

For God hath avenged you on her. 
God hath now required your blood at 
her hands. 

21 And a mighty angel took up a 
stone, like a great mill-stone, and cast 
it into the sea. This text is a quota- 
tion from Jeremiah 51 : 63, 64. There 
it is said a stone, and not a mill-stone, 
and the prophet was commanded to 
cast it into the river Euphrates. If a 
mill-stone, it would have been impos- 
sible for him to cast it into the river 
without supernatural aid : and God 



has never required of us impossibili- 
ties, and more especially when there 
is no occasion for such things. A 
smaller stone would have sunk to the 
bottom as soon as a mill-stone. 

Saying, thus with violence shall 
that great city Babylon be thrown 
down. As this stone has been cast 
into the river Euphrates, and has 
sunk to the bottom, to rise no more, 
so shall spiritual Babylon be cast into 
the power of the army of the Eu- 
phrates, and the army of the Roman 
empire, and they shall sink her to the 
very foundation. 

And shall be found no more at all. 
Julian, (commonly called the apos- 
tate,) in his reign gave the Jews leave 
to rebuild their temple, and retrieve 
the customs of their ancestors, and 
worship God according to the rites of 
their religion, which prohibited them 
from offering sacrifices in any other 
place but the temple at Jerusalem. 
And when the news was circulated 
among the Jews, contributions were 
made by all hands — the very women 
sold their ornaments and jewels to ad- 
vance the work, and the deficiency 



REVELATION. 



251 



22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of 
pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in 
thee ; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall 
be found any more in thee ; and the sound of a mill-stone 
shall be heard no more at all in thee ; 



the emperor ordered to be taken from 
his own treasury. Tradesmen were 
brought from all parts, and the work 
begun ; but God defeated their de- 
signs by thunder and lightning from 
heaven, and the work was stopped 
from going on ; and they have re- 
mained without either a city or tem- 
ple from that time to the present. But 
had they succeeded in rebuilding their 
temple at this time, they positively 
declared that they would make the 
christians feel as terrible effects of 
their severity as ever they them- 
selves did from the Romans. See 
Dr. Gillies' Historical Collections. 

22 And the voice of harpers. It 
was the Levites who were appointed 
to play on the harps. See 2 Chron. 
5: ]2. 

And musicians. This includes the 
singers, as well as those that played 
on musical instruments. The different 
instruments of music on which the 
Jews played were as follows : the 
old psaltry, sackbut, flute, trumpet, 
horn, bagpipe, organ, drum, and 
kettle-drum, besides cymbals, bells, 
harps, &c. 

Pipers. That is, those that played 
on flutes. See 1 Kings, 1 : 40. 

And trumpeters. It was the priests 
that blew the trumpets. They were 
to be blown on different occasions ; 
the commencement and conclusion of 
the sabbath were signified by the blow- 



ing of a trumpet ; also, at the beg ; n- 
ning of every month ; and they were 
to blow with trumpets over their burnt 
offerings and peace offerings. And it 
was by the sound of the trumpet that 
the armies of Israel were to collect 
together, and march forward against 
their enemies. See Num. 10: 3-10. 
2 Chron. 5 : 39. 

Shall be heard no more at all in 
thee. This has also been literally ful- 
filled unto the present period. They 
are now in a strange land, and scat- 
tered among their enemies ; they can 
sing the song of Zion no more ; they 
have hung their harps on the willow ; 
the sweet songsters of Israel have 
ceased — they are no more. Shiloh 
has now come, and the crown has fall- 
en from their heads. They may well 
cry out, woe, woe unto us, for we 
are spoiled ; our enemies have de- 
stroyed us. 

And no craftsman. An artificer or 
mechanic of any kind. 

Shall be found any more in thee. 
Doctor Clarke, in his travels through 
the Holy Land, observes, that the 
only produce of the Jerusalem manu- 
factories, at the present, are beads, 
crosses, and shells ; but they are not 
the produce of Jerusalem, but the 
produce of a city called by us such, 
but not called so by the inhabitants; 
for it never can be called by this name 
until it is inhabited by Jews alone, 



252 



NOTES ON THE 



23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all 
in thee ; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride 
shall be heard no more at all in thee : for thy merchants 
were the great men of the earth ; for by thy sorceries 
were all nations deceived. 

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and 
of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. 



and the city built on the very same 
place where it originally stood. 

And the sound of a millstone shall 
he heard no more at all in thee. If the 
plough still continues to pass through 
Mount Zion, the place where the up- 
per city stood, then the sound of the 
mill-stone cannot be heard there at 
the present. 

23 And the light of a candle shall 
shine no more at all in thee. Your 
lamp shall now be put out, and it ne- 
ver shall be lit again. That is, the 
lamp that was kept continually burn- 
ing in the temple. See Levit. 24 : 2. 
Chap. 22 : 5. 

And the voice of the bridegroom 
and of the bride shall be heard no 
more at all in thee. This is a quota- 
tion from Jeremiah 7 : 34 ; and it 
serves as a comment on this chapter. 
Then, saith Jehovah, (by the mouth 
of the prophet,) will I cause to cease 
from the cities of Judah, and from 
the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of 
mirth, and the voice of gladness ; the 
voice of the bridegroom and the voice 
of the bride ; for the land shall be de- 
solate. But it is not improbable that 
by the bridegroom is meant our Sa- 
vior, and by the bride, his church. 
See chap. 19:7. 

24 And in her ivas found the blood 



of prophets, and of saints, and of all 
that were slain upon the earth. If 
there were not another passage in the 
book of Revelations but this, to prove 
that by spiritual Babylon is meant 
Jerusalem, this is sufficient; for papal 
Rome never has shed the blood of the 
prophets, but Jerusalem has, and this 
before Rome had an existence. Neither 
can we prove from the word of God 
that Rome was ever accused of shed- 
ding the blood of the prophets ; but 
the Scripture has pronounced many 
woes against Jerusalem for having 
shed the blood of her own prophets, 
&c. See Ezek. 24 : 6, 7, 9 ; 1 Kings 
19 : 14 ; Acts 7 : 52 ; 1 Thess. 2: 15. 
And our blessed Savior has declared, 
that all the blood shed on the earth 
from the blood of righteous Abel, unto 
the blood of Zacharias, son of Bara- 
chias, whom they slew between the 
temple and the altar, should actually 
come upon that generation — that is — 
of the Jews. See Zech. 1:1. And 
then he cries out, " O Jerusalem, Je- 
rusalem, thou that killest the pro- 
phets, and stonest them which are 
sent unto thee, how often would I 
have gathered thy children together, 
even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
under her wings, and ye would not !" 
See Matt. 23 : 34, 35, 36, and 37 ; 



253 



REVELATION. 



and Isaiah 1 : 15. And he has de- be that a prophet perish out of Jeru- 
elared in another place, that it cannot salem. See Luke 13 : 33. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



AND after these things I heard a great voice of much 
people in heaven, saying, Alleluia : Salvation, and glory, 
and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God : 

2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he 
hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the 
earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood 
of his servants at her hand. 



1 After these things. The down- 
fal of Babylon, and destruction of her 
commerce by sea and land. Then 
followed the rejoicing of the church in 
general. 

This chapter proves, 1. That she 
was a national church as well as a 
city. 2. That she was a religious 
national church. 3. That she was a 
persecuting and an oppressive church. 
4. That she had apostatised from God, 
and had backsliden from him in heart 
and life. 5. That she was the stumb- 
ling block in the way of the conver- 
sion of the world. Isa. 57 : 14. 6. 



That her destruction was at hand. 
7. That her final ruin was predicted 
by the prophets, our Savior, and his 
apostles. 8. That she not only came 
from Babylon, but was polluted, cor- 
rupted, and became an idolator there. 
9. Great prosperity attended the 
spread of the gospel after her down- 
fal ; but great apostacy followed the 
downfal of Rome. 10. In her was 
found the blood of all the prophets 
and all the righteous ever slain on the 
earth. Chap. 18: 24. 

This was not the case with papal 
Rome. She did not finally apostatise 



254 



NOTES ON THE 



3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose 
up for ever and ever. 

4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts 
fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, 
saying, Amen; Alleluia. 

5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise 
our God all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both 
small and great. 

6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia : for the Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth. 



from God until the year of our Lord 
1070, when all the prophets, apostles, 
and martyrs, were in glory. This 
was the time when persecution began 
in that church, and not before; and it 
has continued in it to the present 
hour. Therefore, Babylon cannot be 
papal Rome. See Ezek. 16 : 2, 15, 
35; Isa. 1 : 21. 

Ha le loo yah. Praise ye Jeho- 
vah Jesus. See chap. 1 : 8. Every 
chapter in this book is full of praise 
and adoration of Him, because " God 
over all, and blessed for ever." 

mfrbn should not be rendered 
without the Greek asperite, a le loo 
yah, which makes no sense whatever. 
Ha le loo yah means the same as 
Aivirti tov Qiov aineite ton Theon, 
Praise our God, i. e. all ye his ser- 
vants, verse 5. Christ, then, beyond 
doubt and dispute, is "the true God 
and eternal life ;" therefore, little 
children, keep yourselves from idols. 
Amen. 

3 Her smoke rose up for ever and 



ever. Her temporal punishment end- 
ed in that of her eternal. The mo- 
ment the city was consumed by fire 
the national body was committed to 
the burning flames of perdition. 

4 The elders and the beasts. See 
chap. 4 : 4, S. 

Worshipped God. Our Savior, the 
only potentate, the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords. Chap. 4 : 10. 

5 Praise our God. Extol him 
above the heavens ; who turneth the 
rivers into a wilderness, and the wa- 
ter springs into dry ground ; a fruitful 
land into barrenness, because of the 
wickedness of them that dwell there- 
in. Ps. 107 : 33, 34, 35. 

6 The voice of a great multitude. 
That is, the rejoicing of an innu- 
merable multitude, of all kindreds, 
tongues, and people, and nations, who 
had now embraced Christianity ; Jews 
and Gentih s who had renounced Juda- 
ism, and heathenism, and had submit- 
ted to the mild and easy yoke of Je- 
sus. This part of the prophecy refers 



REVELATION. 



255 



7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; 



no doubt to the year of our Lord se- 
venty-five.* 

The voice of many waters. That 
is, of nations, and people, who were 
shouting aloud the praises of Imma- 
nual, God in our flesh. A nation at 
this time was born to him in a day.f 

Thunderings. Shouts of victory 
on the part of King Jesus, who has 
subdued all our enemies, and brought 
us out of spiritual Egypt, and through 
the Red sea as on dry land ; and hath 
conducted us safe through the wilder- 
ness of this world for forty years, and 
over Jordan into the promised land of 
the new and heavenly Jerusalem. 

7 The marriage of the Lamb has 
come. The time has come, yea, the 
set time to favor Zion. Her sons 
shall now come from far, and her 
daughters from the ends of the earth, 
and all shall know Jesus, from the 
least to the greatest. The bond wo- 
man and her son shall be cast out, and 
the son of the free woman become 
heir to the spiritual inheritance. The 
heathen shall now be given to him for 
his inheritance, and the uttermost 
parts of the earth for his possession. 



He will now be united in holy wed- 
lock to the Shulamite woman — the 
Gentile nation. He divorced his for- 
mer wife for adultery, but did not 
marry again until she was dead and 
buried. Christ, therefore, is the pro- 
mised seed, in whom all the fami- 
lies of the earth shall be blessed. 
Amen. 

His wife. More properly his bride, 
the Lamb's -wife, spouse; the new 
Adam and Eve, who are now going 
to be united to each other in spiritual 
wedlock. Chap. 12 : 1. This holy 
and pious woman is bone of his bone, 
and flesh of his flesh. He is her head, 
husband, protector, and preserver. 
They are both going to take up their 
final and future residence in the pa- 
lace of the new and heavenly Jerusa- 
lem, the paradise of God, the abode 
of the blessed, happy, pious, virtu- 
ous. Chap. 21: 3; Matt. 28: 20. 
The tree of life is there, that bears 
twelve manner of fruits, and also the 
tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil. Job, 1 : 6. The two-edged 
sword, to defend the way of the 
tree of life, with the cherubim and 



* This may mean either the hundred and forty and four thousand spoken of in chap. 
7 : 4, or else the vast multitude spoken of in the 9th verse of the same chapter. 

t He now has the dominion over all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people ; and they 
have chosen Christ for their King- and their Savior. 

Jesus, the name high over all Jesus, the name to sinners dear, 
In hell, or earth, or sky ! The name to sinners giv'n ! 

Angels and men before it fall, It scatters all their guilty fear, 
And devils fear and fly. It turns their hell to heav'n. 

St. John, in different parts of this book, represents the kingdom and reign of Christ as 
commencing immediately after the fall of Babylon. See chap. 11 : 15, 



256 



iVOTES ON THE 



for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath 
made herself ready. 



seraphim, are there ; and also the 
golden birds of paradise. Chap. 4 : 
6 ; 14:3. The trees and flowers of 
the garden are delightful, and bloom 
summer and winter. Ps. 1 : 3. The 
river of life runs through the midst of 
it, and waters every plant in it. It 
divides itself into four different heads, 
and spreads out into the east, the 
west, the north, and the south. The 
city has twelve golden gates, which 
are open night and day, to admit 
pious pilgrims. But there are twelve 
porters standing at the gates continu- 
ally, to prevent the entrance of impro- 
per persons; such as sorcerers, whore- 
mongers, murderers, robbers, sabbath- 
breakers, liars, drunkards, swear- 
ers, and swindlers, &c. &c. Chapter 
21: 21 ; 22: 15. Their seed (off- 
spring) shall now "inherit the Gen- 
tiles, and make the desolate places to 
be inhabited." " The wilderness and 
solitary place shall be glad because 
of them, and the desert shall rejoice 
and blossom as the rose ; and Sharon 
shall be a fold for the herds to lie down 
in, and in the valley of Acher there 
shall be a door of hope to his people. 
Selah," 



Hath made herself ready. She has 
given her whole heart, life, and affec- 
tions, to him. Her language is : 

" Take my soul and body's powers, 

Take my memory, mind, and will ; 
All my goods and all my hours, 
All I know, and all 1 feel ; 
All I think, or speak, or do — 
Take my heart — but make it new !" 

The bride has on the wedding gar- 
ment of holiness, and a lovely pair of 
golden slippers on her feet. She has 
oil in her vessel ; her lamp is trimmed 
and burning, and she is now ready to 
meet the bridegroom in glory. She is 
clothed with the sun, and the moon is 
under her feet, and she has a dazzling 
and brilliant crown of twelve stars on 
her head. Her chariot is salvation, 
and is drawn by twelve pure, milk- 
white horses; and on their bells is 
written holiness to the Lord. Ten 
virgins robed in spotless white, and 
palms of victory in their hands, are 
her attendants ; and all the heavenly 
host accompany them singing : 

" All glory be to God on high 

And to the earth be pear- 
Good will, henceforth, from he?, n to men. 

Begin, and never cease."* 



* The bride opened the door of her heart, and the King of glory came in and 

filled it with joy and peace in believing: she could then cry o\it, My Savior, my Re- 
deemer, my heaven, my all. Her language was 

" O what hath Jesus bought for me ! I see a world of spirits bright, 



Before my ravished eyes, 
Rivers of life divine I see, 
And trees of paradise ! 

Reader, is this your experience ? 



Who taste the pleasures there ! 
They all are rob'd in spotless white, 
And conquering palms they bear." 

Have you fallen in love with the blessed Jesus ? 



Have you heartily and sincerely repented of your sins ? Have you wept ar,d mourned 



REVELATION. 



257 



8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed 
in fine linen, clean and white : for the fine linen is the 
righteousness of saints. 

9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they 



Hallelooyah ; amen, praise our God 
all ye his people. 

8 Fine linen. Purity of heart and 
life* 

Clean and white. Pure and spot- 
less, made white in the blood of the 
Lamb. For "it cleanseth from all 
sin." And where sin hath abounded 
grace hath much more abounded. 
What Adam lost by sin, Christ has 
regained by suffering for it, the just for 
the unjust, to bring us to God. He 
hates the garment spotted with the 
flesh. He cannot look on sin with the 
least degree of allowance. When a 
saint sins, all heaven weeps ; when a 



sinner repents, all heaven rejoices; 
" For there is more joy in heaven over 
one sinner that repents, than over 
ninety and nine just persons that need 
no repentance." 

9 Blessed are they that are called. 
Happy are they who are called by 
his gospel, his word, his Spirit, his 
ministers, his mercies, and his judg- 
ments. But the blessing is only for 
those who obey ^ the heavenly call. 
Those who reject it 'will be punished 
with everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord and the glory of 
his power, for ever and ever. 

To the marriage supper of the Lamb. 



before God for the sins you have committed ? Do you believe that Jesus is able and 
willing to save you now, if you give your heart to him ? And have you confidence in 
him, that as he has promised, he will also perform ? Do you rely on his promises for all 
temporal and spiritual blessings ? Have you broken off from all your sinful practices, and 
all your ungodly companions 1 And if you have renounced all outward sin, do you regard 
iniquity in your heart ? If so, the Lord will not hear your prayer. But, lastly, have you 
opened the door of your heart to let the King of glory in ? And do you now feel that God, 
for Christ's sake hath pardoned your sins ? If so, what effect has it had on your heart ? 
Did you feel the Spirit itself to bear witness with your spirit, that you were a child of 
God ? Were you then saved from the fear of death, hell, and the day of judgment ? 
If not, you are still in a state of condemnation ; in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds 
of iniquity. 

* This is the wedding garment, i. e. of holiness ; and every person who is not clothed 
with this, (though invited to the wedding,) shall be bound hand and foot, and cast into 
outer darkness, where is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. For many are called 
but few chosen, i. e. many are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, or to obtain 
salvation, but none are admitted into the guest's chamber but those who have on this 
garment. 

33 



258 



NOTES ON THE 



which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. 
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of 
God. 

10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said 
unto me, See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant, and 
of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus : wor- 
ship God : for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of pro- 
phecy. 



That is, to obtain salvation by faitli in 
him, the Lamb of God, who taketli 
away the sin of the world. It is com- 
pared to a supper, because the last 
dispensation of mercy which we shall 
ever receive from the hand of God. 
He has spread his table in the wilder- 
ness, and invited the whole human 
family to come and partake of this 
spiritual and heavenly feast ; and this 
freely, without money, and without 
price. And as he has declared that 
the Jews, who rejected his salvation, 
should not partake of his supper, so it 
will be with us Gentiles, if we make 
light of the invitation.* 

10 i" fell at his feet to worship him. 
From his glorious and majestic ap- 
pearance I took him to be my Savior, 
but he very soon informed me of my 



mistake, that he was a creature, and 
not the Creator. 

See thou do it not. I am worthy of 
no honor, Christ is worthy of all honor 
and glory ; therefore love, serve, wor- 
ship, and obey him. He is the mas- 
ter, I am his servant. He is God, I 
am man; a sinner saved by grace; 
take the crown off my head and lay 
it at the feet of him who is King of 
kings and Lord of lords, for he only is 
worthy to wear it. Blessed humility! 
one offered to honor him, as he took 
him to be his Savior ; the other, as a 
creature, refused it, because it did not 
belong to him.f 

/ am thy fellow servant. In the 
ministry* You are such in the church 
on earth ; I am a ministering spiiit in 
the church of heaven. We are breth- 



* So blessed is he that readeth the words of the prophecy of this book ; but it is on 
condition that he understands it, and lives according to the things written in it. We 
know that those who were formerly bidden to the marriage supper refused to come, and 
were curst instead of blest, i. e. because of their disobed.ence to the heavenly call. See 
Luke 14: 24. 

f Let u* learn a lesson of humility from this, and rememSer that rride goeth before 
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. See Prov. 16 : 18. And he that exalieth 
himself shall be abased, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. See Luke 
14: 11. 



REVELATION, 



259 



11 And I saw heaven opened, ^and behold, a white 
horse; and he that sat upon him teas called Faithful and 
True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 



ren in the Lord ; therefore it would 
be idolatry for either of us to worship 
the creature and not the Creator; we 
are not " lords over God's heritage," 
but simply laborers in his vineyard. 

Have the testimony of Jesus. That 
he is the true Messiah, God over all, 
and blessed for ever, in whom dwell- 
eth " all the fulness of the Godhead 
bodily." Col. 2 : 9. 

Worship him. As the true God 
and eternal life; for all the angels of 
God are commanded to worship him. 
Heb. 1 : 6. 

For the testimony of Jesus is the 
spirit of prophecy. All who have this 
testimony (that he is God) are pro- 
phets, either literally or spiritually ; 
have either the gift of prayer, exhor- 
tation, preaching, or foretelling future 
events. The word is used in all these 
senses in the Scriptures.* 

11 A white horse. The white 
throne of purity and justice. This is 
evidently John's meaning, from what 
follows. 

In righteousness. In justice and 
equity, according to the law and the 
gospel. 

Doth he make war. Punish the 



guilty, and defend the innocent. He 
has to punish the wicked in order to 
protect and preserve his church. His 
war is not offensive, but defensive. 
Babylon, the beast, and the false pro- 
phet, all waged war against him and 
his people, and he must either sub- 
due them, or they would destroy his 
church. This was precisely the case 
with the Israelites under the Old Tes- 
tament dispensation. Their wars were 
defensive. Their enemies attacked 
them first, and would have extermi- 
nated them, had not God subdued 
them. Rams'* horns, in the hands of 
God's people, were sufficient to ac- 
complish this. The heathen nations 
were all Atheists, and defied the ar- 
mies of Israel, and even fell upon 
them and slew many of them, before 
God commanded them to march 
against them. Pharaoh asked, "who 
is God, that I should obey him ? I 
know him not, and will not let the 
people go." He held his chosen peo- 
ple in bondage 400 years, and would 
not let them go into the wilderness to 
serve him ; but he very soon com- 
pelled him to do it, and destroyed all 
his army in the Red sea, and this 



* The apostle assures us, that no man can call Jesus, Christ, but by the Spirit of God, 
and if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his ; so that if he has the tes- 
timony of Jesus, he has the very same Spirit which formerly inspired the prophets. See 
1 Peter 1 : 10, 11. And this Spirit enables the ministers of the gospel at the present, if 
requisite, to foretel future events, as well as to preach the gospel effectually. Prophesy- 
ing spiritually, in the scripture sense, means no more than preaching the gospel, and at 
other times prayer and exhortation. 



260 



NOTES ON THE 



12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head 
were many crowns ; and he had a name written, that no 
man knew but he himself. 

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: 
and his name is called the Word of God. 

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him 
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 



when just going to utterly destroy his 
people. Finally, the Egyptians soon 
learned that he was superior to Pha- 
raoh and all his host, and that in a 
moment he could overwhelm them in 
the deep. 

12 His eyes. See chap. 1:14. 

Many crowns. Because of his ma- 
ny and mighty victories over all his 
enemies. 

13 A name that no man knoweth. 
That is, r?V"l? "l^ de var Ye ho vah. 
The word of Jehovah, who appeared 
to Abraham, and told him he was his 
shield and exceeding great reward ; 
and that in him all the families of the 
earth should be blessed : and Abra- 
ham believed in him, (Messiah,) and 
it was imputed to him for justifica- 
tion, the pardon of all his sins. And 
this very person in whom he believed 
is Jehovah, Jesus. Rom. 5:1; Acts, 
4: 12; 10: 43* 

14 The armies. Soldiers of the 



King of kings and Lord of lords. His 
army of ministers and members, 
young and old, rich and poor, bond 
and free, prince and peasant, all en- 
listed and fought under his pure white 
banner of holiness. 

Of heaven. The church militant; 
the holy, happy, pure, people. 

Followed him. In the regenera- 
tion; and when he appeared they 
also appeared with him in glory. 

White horses. Thrones of purity 
and justice, like the sanhedrin. Chap. 
4: 4. The saints were all to sit on 
thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel. Luke, 22 : 30 ; 1 Cor. 6 : 2. 
The church rode on triumphantly 
over all her enemies, and now she 
had gained the victory through the 
blood of the Lamb. Their cause was 
just, their lives pure, their manners 
plain, simple, and undisguised ; their 
character unspotted from the world, 
and none, Jew or Gentile, could lay 



* His name is the Word of God ; see the next verse ; and no person, either in heaven 
or on earth, knows the meaning of this mysterious name but Christ himself; not one of 
the apostles or evangelists attempted to explain it ; it was not revealed to them, and 
therefore they did not wish to be wise above that which is written. Commentators have 
spent no small share of time and labor in striving to explain the meaning of the Logos, or 
the Word ; but it is all labor in vain, they have only darkened counsel by the multitude of 
words. 



REVELATION. 



261 



15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that 
with it he should smite the nations : and he shall rule 
them with a rod of iron : and he treadeth the wine-press 
of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name 
written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 



any thing to the charge of God's elect 
(beloved) people. 

Fine linen. The righteousness of 
the saints, through the blood of the 
Lamb. This, then, is the white horse 
on which the Savior sits in his church, 
for " without holiness no man shall 
see the Lord." 

15 A sharp sword. The word of 
God, which is more sharp and power- 
ful than any two-edged sword. See 
chap. 1 : 16. 

That with it he should smite the 
nations. Bring them into subjection 
by the preaching of the everlasting 
gospel.* 

Rule them with a rod of iron. With 
power and great authority. 



And he treadeth the wine-press. 
He empowered, authorised, command- 
ed, the Roman army to work the 
press, crush the sour grapes in Ju- 
dea, and cause the blood to come up 
to the horses bridles, f 
; The fierceness of the wrath. His 
wrath was then more severe and 
dreadful than ever known, since or 
before. No nation, previous to this, 
was ever punished so severely, and 
no other nation ever shall be unto the 
end of the world. This assurance we 
have from our Lord himself. 

16 His thigh. His hidden, holy, 
sacred spot, on which was the mark 
of circumcision. £ 

And on his vesture. His garment 



* That is, that he should conquer or subdue the nations with thi3 sword, namely, the 
Word of God ; with thi3 our Savior, (through the instrumentality of the apostles,) has 
subdued all the nations of the earth, un:il the kingdoms of this world have become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. 

t The Roman army is the press, and Christ the person who trod it, or empowered 
them to destroy the Jews ; for had not God, by his mighty power, thrown these sour 
grapes into the power of the wine-press, it would have been utterly impossible for the 
Romans to have destroyed them. Titus declared that God was on the part of the Ro- 
mans, or else they never could have conquered the Jews. 

+ The thigh was a sacred spot, the place on which the Jews circumcised their chil- 
dren; and this was a seal, or a sign of the righteousness or justification which they were 
afterwards to obtain by faith in the promised seed, namely, Christ. See Rom. 4 : 11. 
Our blessed Savior had the name described below, visibly written on the garment of sal- 
vation, or the work of our redemption, as well as on his robe of righteousness. 



262 



NOTES OX THE 



17 And I saw an anoel standing in the sun ; and he 
cried with a loud voice, saving to all the fowls that fly in 
the midst of heaven, Come, and gather yourselves to- 
gether unto the supper of the great God ; 



of salvation. He is therefore the king 
immortal, invisible, the only wise 
God our Savior, to whom be honor 
and glory for ever and ever.* 

17 An angel. This was either 
Ezekiel or Isaiah. What follows is 
quoted from Ezekiel's prophecy. 

Standing in the sun. Clothed with 
the glory of God, encircled in a lu- 
minous body of light. He was bril- 
liant, great, and glorious, while on 



earth, but he was much more so 
when he appeared to John in Pat- 
mos. No prisoner, captive, or exile, 
was ever so highly honored as was 
John when on this barren island. His 
revelations were all mode to him 
there, and a host of angels sent to 
minister to him. Therefore let us 
kiss the rod, and bless the hand of 
him who appointed it. 

The fowls that fly. The ravenous 



* 1. Then he is King of kings, for they are only finite in knowledge, but he is infinite ; 
he knows all things past, present, and to come. See Jer. 10:7. 

" His wisdom's vast, and knows no bound, 

" A depth where all our thoughts are drowned." 

2. He was superior to men and angels in holiness; he was the end of the law, for 
righteousness (justification) to every one that believeth. 

3. He exceeded every man in meekness and humility; for he that was rich, for our 
Bakes became poor, and had not where to lay his head ; he made himself of no reputa- 
tion, but took upon him the form of a servant, and humbled himself unto death, even the 
death of the cross, for us sinners. 

4. He was superior to all men in zeal and patience ; it was more than his meat and 
drink to do the will of him who sent him. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and 
a sheep before her shearers, yet he never murmured ; and when reviled, he reviled not 
again ; he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and at last wept, bled, 
groaned, and gave up the ghost, until the rocks were rent, and the graves opened, and 
many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose, after his resurrection, and went into 
the holy city, and appeared unto many. See Matt. 27 : 5.1. 

5. His love exceeded that of all men. Scarcely for a righteous man would one die, 
yet peradventure, for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commended 
his love to us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See Rom. 5 : 7. 
And if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, 
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. See verse 10. 

6. And lastly, he is a King, to reign in us, and rule over us, as the Lord God of every 
motion. 



REVELATION, 



263 



1$ That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of 
horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all 
men, both free and bond, both small and great. 

19 And I saw the beast, and the king; of the earth, 
and their armies, gathered together to irake war against 
him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 

20 And the beast was take a, and with him the false 



and destructive eagles, armies of the 
Roman empire which our Lord had 
commissioned to devour the dead car- 
casses of the Jews in Jerusalem. Jer. 
16 : 4, 5; Ez. 39 : 17. 

The supper of the great God. The 
great and national slaughter of his 
own chosen people, who rebelled and 
vexed his Holy Spirit. They were 
the last nation that the Roman army 
destroyed ; and are here represented 
as feasting on their flesh and blood, 
like wild and lawless beasts of the 
forest. 

18 To eat the flesh of Icings. The 
princes, rulers, and leaders of the 
people of Israel. The sons of Isates, 
the king, were among the captives; 
and Simon and John were taken pri- 
soners and led in triumph through the 
streets of Rome, and then torn to 
pieces by wild beasts at the forum. 
See Josephus, War, book 6, chap. 6, 
sec. 4. See Ez. 39 : 17 ; Jer. 7 : 33 ; 
Deut. 28 : 36.* 

Captains. Of fifties, which indi- 
cate that kings also mean generals of 
the army, head, chief men. 



Mighty men. Wealthy, noble, 
learned, eloquent men. The fact is 
they were all destroyed, cut off in the 
war with Titus. The prophet Eze- 
kiel declares that this slaughter was 
to be on the mountains of Israel. 

19 To make war with him. To de- 
stroy Prince Messiah and his spiritual 
army, but he put the armies of the 
aliens all to flight. They fled in every 
direction ; when no man pursued, one 
genuine christian chased a thousand, 
and two put ten thousand to flight; 
with the sword of the Spirit in one 
hand, and faith and prayer in the 
other, they subdued nations, wrought 
miracles, raised the dead to life, stop- 
ped the mouths of lions, quenched 
the violence of fire, escaped the edge 
of the sword, out of weakness were 
made strong, waxed valiant in fight, 
and finally caused the armies of the 
aliens to flee in every direction. Heb. 
11 : 33, 34. See chap. 13:13; 1G : 
13. 

Him that sat on the horse. See 
verse 11. 

20 Cast alive. That is, soul and 



* The princes of Israel; but it may also refer to those who set themselves up for kings 
before the war, such as Simon, John, &c. 



264 



NOTES ON THE 



prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he 
deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, 
and them that worshipped his image. These both were 
cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him 
that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his 
mouth : and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 



body were sent to perdition imme- 
diately. Their bodies were first com- 
mitted to the burning flames here, and 
then both soul and body were sent 
right into the pit of perdition, to be 
tormented with fire and brimstone for 
ever and ever. This, then, is the 
end of all persecutors of pious chris- 
tians. 

For the character of the false pro- 
phet, see chap. 13 : 6, 14.* 

21 The remnant seems to refer to 
the ten thousand captives that Titus 
reserved to crown the victory at Rome ; 
these were all torn to pieces by wild 
beasts in the forum. But the rem- 
nant may refer to the remnant of the 
heathen, who were not converted to 
Christianity at this time, but after- 
ward embraced the religion of Jesus. 
This seems probable, from the fact 



that they were slain by the sword of 
him (Christ) who sat on the white 
horse ; and this sword proceeded out 
of his mouth. But it may refer to the 
sword of him who sat on the red 
horse. Chap. 6 : 4. 

And all the fowls were filled with 
their flesh. That is, they were torn 
to pieces by lawless and barbarous 
nations, as was predicted by the pro- 
phet Ezekiel. Chapter 39: 17, 18. 
From this chapter, there can be no 
doubt of what nation John refers to 
here — that is, the house of Israel. 
The feast here, of the fowls of the 
air, and wild beasts of the forest, is 
the same precisely as predicted by 
the prophet Ezekiel. He declares 
they should eat the flesh of the migh- 
ty, and drink the blood of the princes 
of Israel ; so that the house of Israel 



* The text does not say that they were cast body arid soul into hell ; John alludes 
here to the 7th chapter and lltli verse of Daniel ; there it is said " his body should be 
given to the burning flame." The plain meaning seems to be, that their bodies after 
death should be consumed on the burning pile, and their souls immediately committed to 
the burning flames of hell. To suppose that a body of flesh and blood, bones and nerves, 
should be capable of bearing the torments of hell without a change from mortal to immor- 
tal, would be inconsistent ; but it is probable that the germs of these men's bodies, after 
they were burnt, were quickened into futurity, and immediately reunited with their souls, 
and then the immortal bodies and souls committed to the eternal burning. See chapter 
13: 6. 



REVELATION. 



shall then know that I am the Lord 
God. And the heathen shall know 
that the house of Israel went into 
captivity because of their wickedness, 



265 

and that I gave them into the hands 
of their enemies, and they caused 
them to fall by the sword. Ezek. 39 : 
18, 19, 22, 23. 



CHAPTER XX, 



AND I saw an angel come down from heaven, having 
the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his 
hand. 



1 I saw an angel come doicn from 
heaven. This was undoubtedly Ga- 
briel, God's prime minister ; no other 
angel has sufficient power to bind the 
devil, who, very probably, was an 
archangel himself before his fall.* 

Having the hey. Power and au- 
thority to bind him a thousand years. 

The bottomless pit. The pit of hell, 



perdition. The bottomless pit makes 
no sense whatever ; YNlib means the 
pit of perdition, and Diabolus has de- 
rived his name from it. He is called 
Abaddon, as well as Apollyon, be- 
cause the destroyer of both soul and 
body. " A murderer from the begin- 
ning" of creation. f 

A great chain. God's chain, his 



* It is supposed that the devil himself was once an archangel, and that he held the 
same office before his fall as Gabriel holds at present. If this be true, he must have been 
the next in power to the Almighty himself, and of course none but God, or an angel supe- 
rior to himself, could bind him ; but as his power was weakened through his fall, and 
Gabriel's power increased by it, he was able to bind the destroyer, and to keep him 
bound a thousand years. 

t There is a heaven and hell in this life as well as in that which is to come ; and if 
there be no hell but that which is on earth, then there is no heaven but that which is on 

34 



266 NOTES ON THE 

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, 
which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand 
years. 



divine command to restrain him, 
which he dare not disobey ; if he did, 
Gabriel would shut him up in his 
prison for ever. He is God's ambas- 
sador, plenipotentiary, has full power 
and authority to do it, and this under 
the seal of the King of kings and Lord 
of lords. InProv. 1 : 9, instruction is 
called a chain ; punishment is called 
such, Lam. 3:7: and in Jude 6, re- 
straint is called such. Hence, b^SK 
BtltYb "iVb a phil loon la talk ta. He 
cast them (fallen spirits) into the 
chains of blackness and darkness. Zo- 
har on Gen. fol. 27 : 3. 

2 And he seized the dragon. By 
the throat, and bound him hand and 
foot, and then led him off in triumph, 
and thrust him down head foremost 
into the dungeon of hell, his dark and 
dismal place of abode. 

He is here called the dragon, be- 
cause the prince and power of the air, 
who ruleth in the hearts of the chil- 
dren of disobedience; the author and 
propagator of sin, the father of lies 
and of all manner of wickedness. His 



prison, no doubt, is some place be- 
neath the surface of the earth, as fire 
and brimstone are continually issuing 
forth from it, See Deut. 32 : 22. 

"That old serpent. The old fflTD 
Tta chash, the very person who poi- 
soned Adam and Eve,* and all their 
posterity. He has diffused his poison 
through the whole human system, as 
well as through the whole human 
family, and nothing but the applica- 
tion of Christ's blood can eradicate it. 
The whole head is sick, the whole 
heart faint ; we are wounds, bruises, 
and putrefying sores, from the crown 
of the head to the sole of the foot ; 
they have not been bound up nor 
mollified with ointment, and none can 
heal our diseases but Jesus, the Good 
Physician of soul and body. 

He deceived Eve, because the 
weaker vessel; she was led into the 
temptation, found in the transgres- 
sion; nevertheless, she shall be de- 
livered in child-birth: 46 For the seed 
of the woman shall bruise the ser- 
pent's head, and he shall bruise his 



earth ; and if we allow that there is a God, we must allow that there is a devil also, for 
there are twe kinds of characters on earth — the righteous and the -icici:ed. The latter 
directly opposite to the former, and are at war with each o?her ; so that there certainly 
must be two fountains from which these two streams proceed ; a fountain cannot produce 
salt water and sweet at the same time. And if we admit that God is just and holy, we 
must allow that nothing unjust or unholy can proceed from him; and surely, murder, 
robbery, aduletry, drunkenness and debauchery, cannot be of him, but of ihe devil. 

* How old he is, we cannot determine ; but in all probability he ha^ existed a million 
'jf vears since first created 



REVELATION. 



267 



( Messiah's) heel." God told her in 
the day she partook of the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil, yielded 
to the temptation of the devil, she 
should surely die, both literally and 
spiritually, become mortal, and lose 
the image of God from her soul. The 
devil told her this could not be, but 
she should be like Elohim, (infinite in 
knowledge,) knowing the difference 
between good and evil, vice and vir- 
tue; pride prompted her to believe 
this, and she fell, and all her posterity 
fell with her, and this is the predomi- 
nant passion of her offspring to this 
day — a desire to he rick, great, hon- 
orable, to be on the pinnacle of the 
temple, to be above all, and beneath 
none. The dear Redeemer was quite 
a different character, meek and lowly 
in heart and in life. He disregarded 
wealth, and sought not the honor of 
man. He was despised and forsaken 
of men ; a man of sorrows, and expe- 
rienced in grief, who had not where 
to lay his head, nor even a friend to 
administer a cup of cold water to him 
in his dying moments. 

O Lamb of God, was ever pain, 

Was ever grief like thine ! 

He made himself of no reputation, 
but took upon him the form of a ser- 
vant, and became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross, for us sin- 
ners. May we, as Christians, follow 
his holy and pious example. Amen. 

The devil. Deceiver, dissembler, 
hypocrite, a disguiser of the truth. 

The devil has great power and in- 
fluence over the souls and bodies of 
men; if not limited or restricted he 
certainly would destroy the human 
family in a moment ; the decree of 
Heaven is, " thus far shalt thou go 
and no farther." Touch not my 



anointed, and do my prophets no 
harm. See that you hurt not the oil 
and the wine. You may touch Job's 
flesh, but not his bone ; his life is in 
my hands, and not in yours. The 
righteous are under my special provi- 
dence, the wicked under your do- 
minion. 

Christ came to seek and to save 
that which was lost ; to destroy the 
works of the devil, viz: his power 
and dominion over men, and is direct- 
ly opposite of him in every respect; in 
humility, patience, resignation, long- 
suffering, gentleness, meekness, good- 
ness, kindness, charity, &c. &c. 

Satan is called the " Prince and 
power of the air, who ruleth in the 
hearts of the children of disobedience." 
Eph. 2 : 2. When permitted, he poi- 
sons and contaminates the whole at- 
mosphere, and causes it to produce 
epidemic and inflammatory diseases, 
which have swept away thousands in 
every country. Job, 2 : 7. As I 
have before observed, we are natu- 
rally as well as spiritually diseased ; 
' ; from the crown of the head to 
the sole of the foot, we are wounds, 
bruises, and putrefying sores, which 
have not been bound up, (healed,) 
nor softened with ointment." Isaiah, 
1 : 6. 

"The heart," says the prophet, 
"is deceitful, and desperately wicked 
above all things, and who can know 
it?" Jer. 17 : 9. But 

Je3us is a balm for every wound, 

A cordial for our fears. 

" His name," says Gabriel, " shall be 
called Jesus, because he shall save 
his people from their sins." It comes 
from sao, to save, deliver, restore, 
heal as diseases. He took on him our 
nature, human nature, not angelic. 



26S 



NOTES ON THE 



He bore our sins in his own body on 
the tree, died in our stead, the just 
for the unjust, to bring us to God. 
Wherefore he is able to save, to the 
very uttermost, all them that come 
unto God by him. He justifies, sanc- 
tifies, and glorifies, the believer; so 
that where sin hath abounded, grace 
hath much more abounded ; for the 
blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
cleanseth from all sin. 1 John, 1 : 7. 

He has power over the winds and 
the weather, the sudden changes from 
heat to cold, and vice versa ; the tem- 
pest and the storms, hurricanes and 
earthquakes, inundations and bursting 
forth of mount Vesuvius ; the burning 
heat of the torrid zone, the piercing 
cold of the frigid zone, the pestilential 
winds of the deserts of Arabia, the 
plagues of Egypt, famines of Europe, 
the fevers of America, are all of him. 
See Job, 1 : 19. 

All that ever perished by sea and 
land, by war and bloodshed, in time 
and eternity, have perished through 
him. He is a murderer from the be- 
ginning, viz: of Adam and Eve and 
all their posterity. See Job, 1 : 7. 
He destroyed the antedeluvian world, 
burnt down Sodom and Gomorrah, 
swallowed up all the company of 
Kora, Dathan, and Abiram, drowned 
the Egyptians in the Red sea, de- 
stroyed three millions of Jews in Je- 
rusalem and Judea by Titus, and 
three millions more by his father in 
the Roman empire; and since then 
nine millions have perished by war 
and bloodshed ; that is in Asia, Africa, 
Europe, and America. He has de- 
vastated cities, towns, countries, pro- 
vinces, and kingdoms ; has made the 
fields of the continent of Europe white 
with human bones, and manured them 



with the blood of the slain. Can we, 
then, for a moment imagine, that a 
just and merciful God has any thing 
to do with such barbarous and inhu- 
man proceedings 1 We say no. He 
is the author of all good, and the 
devil the author of all evil. Christ is 
the Prince of Peace, and not of war. 
" My kingdom," says he, " is not of 
this world, if it were, my soldiers 
would fight for me." His weapons 
are not carnal, but spiritual, and 
mighty to the pulling down of the 
strong holds of Satan. Again, " I say 
unto you resist not evil, but whoso- 
ever shall smite thee on the right 
cheek, turn to him the other also." 
Put up the sword in its sheath, for 
they that use the sword shall perish 
by it. We therefore conclude that 
war is the work of the devil,' and is 
contrary to the spirit of Christianity 
and that of the gospel. 

He is going about to and fro in the 
earth, as a roaring lion, seeking whom 
he may devour. 1 Pet. 5:8; Job, 1 : 
16. He and his emissaries are every 
where present. He visits his children 
daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, 
and induces them to become rich 
and popular in this life, but the world 
to come is never named by him. Hell 
is such a vulgar expression that he 
dare not name it to his polite and 
delicate people, because they are so 
refined and elegantly educated as not 
to be able to bear with it. It will do, 
he asserts, for the poor and illiterate, 
but not for the rich and the refined. 
The prison and the palace, the pulpit 
and the closet, the class meeting and 
prayer meeting, the public and pri- 
vate exercises of the church, he visits 
regularly ; he is at the altar and the 
sacrament, he gives the wine to the 



REVELATION. 



269 



priest and the wafer to the people. 
He helps the mourner to the altar, 
whispers in his ears, " you have now 
got religion, join the church, but keep 
it to yourself ; the less you say about 
it the better; men who talk most 
about it enjoy the least share of it." 
He is delighted with such revivals as 
affect the passions but not the heart ; 
a change of life is what he wants, a 
change of heart he abhors. He is 
more afraid of one converted member 
than all the learned and unconverted 
ministers in the world. No man can 
be a christian without a change of 
heart and life ; his sins must be for- 
given, his God reconciled, his nature 
renewed, his soul made happy, his 
hope sure, his prospect of heaven 
clear and bright, before he can die in 
peace. 

He is a liar and the father of it, 
John, 8 : 44. Perjury, false-swear- 
ing, false vows and promises, pervert- 
ing the Holy Scriptures, altering 
words, sentences and phrases, to meet 
our own narrow and erroneous views ; 
making public opinion the standard of 
piety, and not the Bible ; disguising 
or concealing the truth, daubing the 
people with untempered mortar ; 
crying peace, peace, when there is 
no peace ; making the people be- 
lieve from the pulpit that they are 
christians, when in reality they are 
not ; permitting them, through the 
ministry, to read novels, immoral 
books and papers, and to visit places 
of public amusement which have not 
the glory of God in view ; following 
the desires of the flesh and of the 
mind, and not warning them of their 
danger. The Scriptures, on the con- 
trary, pronounce a blessing on the 
man who " walks not in the counsel 



of the ungodly, nor standeth in the 
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat 
of the scornful, but who delighteth in 
the law of the Lord, and in it he me- 
ditates day and night. Ps. 1:1, 2. 

The present age is really a singu- 
lar one ; public opinion seems to con- 
trol every thing. Some years since 
slavery was considered a vile sin in 
the church, and selling and drinking 
spirituous liquors no sin — innocent, 
and requisite to health. But public 
opinion has quite changed ; slavery is 
now advocated, and drinking or selling 
spirituous liquors condemned. Dan- 
cing was tolerated in the church then, 
and slavery condemned; now dancing 
is condemned and slavery tolerated. 
Really, some of the churches and 
ministers must think God either to be 
asleep or gone into a foreign country, 
and will probably never return, but the 
visible marks of his displeasure rests 
on all churches that are guided by 
public opinion and not by God's un- 
erring word. 

He is the author of all the evils in 
the world, such as murder, robbery, 
war, bloodshed, slavery, Sabbath- 
breaking, swearing, lying, cheating, 
gambling, drunkenness, duelling, de- 
bauchery, hunting, horse-racing, the 
circus, theatre, opera, ball-room ; also 
all evil passions, such as envy, malice, 
hatred, revenge, backbiting, slander, 
pride, witchcraft, fortune telling, and 
all uncharitableness and unrighteous- 
ness of men. " From all such, good 
Lord deliver us." See Job, 1 : 15. 
41 Being justified by faith," says the 
apostle, "we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ;" 
"and there is, therefore, now, no con- 
demnation to them who are in Christ 
Jesus, (by faith,) who walk not after 



:270 



NOTES ON THE 



the flesli, (follow the desires of it,) 
but after the Spirit," who will guide 
you into all truth. Rom. 5:1; 8: 1. 

The moment the poor prodigal son 
runs away from his master, (the de- 
vil,) and crosses the boundary line and 
gets into ImmanuaVs land, he is then 
free and independent ; the enemy may 
pursue him to the very border, but he 
dare not cross over it; he may look, 
laugh, grin, rage, threaten, intimi- 
date, but all in vain; he is under the 
protection of the Prince of Peace, 
and is perfectly safe. 

He is not only the author of all the 
evils, but also of all the errors in the 
world ; Atheism, Deism, Arianism, 
Unitarianism, Universalism, Mormon- 
ism, Romanism, Fourierism, &c. mass 
for the dead, penance, purgatory, par- 
don, and celibacy of the priests, wor- 
ship of images, saints and angels, false 
miracles and doctrines, transubstan- 
tiation, the inquisition of Spain, burn- 
ing of heretics, and the Bible, murder 
without sin, together with denying 
civil and religious liberty to the peo- 
ple, are all of him. What, sir ! a 
Catholic to murder a Protestant in 
cold blood, or a Protestant to murder 
a Catholic, because such, and be a 
christian, it is utterly impossible ; he 
is the first born of Satan, a child of 
the devil, a murderer, an imp of hell, 
and though he may escape the gal- 
lows, he will not escape the wrath of 
God ; he will surely be punished. The 
mild, peaceable religion of Jesus never 
sanctions persecution, but on the con- 
trary, condemns it ; and commands us 
to "love our enemies, to bless them 
that curse us, and pray for them who 
despitefully use and persecute us, and 
say all manner of evil against us, false- 
ly, for Christ's sake." Matt. 4: 44. 



He is the author of death, tempo- 
ral, spiritual, and eternal ; when 
Adam sinned the soul died spiritually, 
and the body literally, it became mor- 
tal and corrupt ; " dust thou art," 
says Jehovah, " and unto dust shalt 
thou return ;" and he would have pe- 
rished for ever, had it not been for 
the promise that " the seed (son) of 
the woman (Virgin Mary) shall bruise 
the serpent's head, (destroy the pow- 
er and influence of the devil over the 
souls and bodies of men,) and he shall 
bruise his heel," (cause his life to be 
taken away from the earth,) or cause 
him to be cut off from the land of the 
living, for the transgression of his 
people. Is. 53 : 8. " Death," the 
apostle assures us, "reigned over 
them, (infants,) who had not sinned 
after the similitude of Adam's trans- 
gression." The dear little creatures 
have to suffer a temporary punishment 
in this life, but thank God, they have 
no pain or punishment to pass through 
beyond the grave." " Of such," says 
our Lord, "is the kingdom of heaven." 
Mark, 10: 14. Hence, the Savior 
came into the world to destroy him 
who had the power of death, (that is 
the devil,) and to deliver them (sin- 
ners) who through fear of death were 
all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
Heb. 2 : 14. Again, he came to abo- 
lish death, and to bring life and im- 
mortality to light through the preach- 
ing of the gospel. 1 Tim. 1:10. 
Though the devil has no dominion 
over the righteous, yet he has power 
over the wicked ; "for bloody and 
deceitful men shall not live out half 
their days," Satan is permitted, when 
there is no hope of their salvation, to 
cut them off. Ps. 55 : 23. On the 
other hand, the righteous live long, 



REVELATION. 



271 



become old, and die full of years and 
of blessings, because they live to glo- 
rify God on earth; and to enjoy him 
for ever in heaven. 

He excites, instigates, tempts to evil. 
He imperceptibly leads the simple 
soul into it. The riches, honors, and 
pleasures of the world are held up to 
his view, as a gilded bait, to lay fast 
hold of his affections, until time, ta- 
lents, learning and influence, are all 
directed to the one object ; finally, he 
has attained this, and now, instead of 
being happy, he is wretched, and 
miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked, and knowest it not. See Matt. 
4: 8. 

When writing this, a neighbor has 
just put an end to his life, because he 
lost his property ; and a short time 
since another became rich, and de- 
ranged by it, and put an end to his 
life ; and a third person, last year, who 
was rich, imagined he should become 
poor, and to prevent this, took a pis- 
tol and shot himself at Hoboken. 
Here, then, is the miserable delusion 
of wealth; it never has made a man 
happy, and it never can do it, for — 

Search the wh la creatirn round, 
And happiness, out of Christ, cannot be 
found. 

"How hardly shall they that have 
riches enter the kingdom of heaven." 
41 Charge them that are rich in this 
world, not to be high-minded nor trust 
in uncertain riches, but in the living 
God, who giveth us all things richly to 
enjoy." 1 Tim. 6:17. "And what 
shall it profit a man if he gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul." 

He induces parents to put into the 
hands of their children novels, news- 
papers, impure, immoral, indelicate, 



and corrupt books, pictures, and pam- 
phlets, instead of the Holy Scriptures, 
which are able to make them wise 
unto salvation. They poison their 
young and tender minds, and vitiate 
their taste for spiritual things, until 
finally they becom econfirmed infi- 
dels, and live and die such, and their 
blood in the day of eternity will be 
required at the hands of their parents. 
They infuse pride and arrogance into 
their young and tender minds, take 
them to places of fashionable amuse- 
ment, but wilfully neglect to bring 
them up in the nurture and admoni- 
tion of the Lord ; until finally they 
become fit fuel for the burning. 

He has his seminaries and colleges^ 
presidents, professors, tutors, teachers, 
and students, all of which care no 
more for the Bible than for a ballad, 
he never permits it to be read nor 
taught in any of his institutions. The 
priests in France would not permit the 
people to read the Scriptures, and the 
consequence was, the nation became 
infidel, the priests being the cause of 
it ; and when the infidels got the 
reins of government in their hands, 
they wreaked their vengeance, first 
on the wicked priests, and then on the 
people who adhered to them, until 
finally, these barbarous butchers made 
human blood run down the streets 
of Paris in torrents. The enemy of 
God and man is playing the same 
game with us as he did in France 
sixty years since. His emissaries have 
discarded the Bible from some of our 
republican schools, and denounced the 
reading of it from the pulpit ; the next 
step will be to seize the reins of go- 
vernment, and finally, church and 
state will become united, and a foreign 
prince be placed on the throne of 



272 



NOTES ON THE 



America. As it was in'the beginning, 
is now, and ever shall be, world with- 
out end. 

<••• Newton, Locke, Bacon, Bunyan, 
and many other great and good men, 
have read the Scriptures and written 
comments on them, and were highly 
commended for this by the church and 
bishops; but behold, a greater than 
Solomon is here — the Lord of life and 
glorv ; he has commanded all men 
every where, Jew and Gentile, to 
search the Scriptures, and to teach, 
them to their children, by their fire- 
sides. John, 5 : 39 ; Deut. 6 : 7. Eve- 
ry man in the Jewish nation was not 
only commanded to search them as 
for hid treasure, but to have a copy 
of them in his house, and to read them 
every morning and evening in his 
family and to his children. "We, 
therefore, challenge the pope and all 
the priests in the world to produce 
one single passage from the Scrip- 
tures where the people are forbid to 
read them. 

Finally, the titles and epithets given 
to him in the Bible point out in some 
degree the extent of his power. 1. He 
is called the Devil,* deceiver, liar, 
dissembler. 2. Satan, the slanderer, 
back-biter, accuser of the brethren. 
3. A dragon, because he utterly de- 
vastates and destroys. 4. A serpent, 
who has poisoned, polluted, and cor- 
rupted the whole human family. 
5. A murderer of mankind. 6. A 
lion, to tear in pieces and devour 
man. 7. The prince of this world, 
who keeps all his vassalsin perpetual 
and cruel bondage. 8. A seducer 
from the path of virtue and piety. 9. 



A sorcerer, lo blind and pervert the 
understanding. 10. A tempter, to al- 
lure, attract, induce to evil, lead the 
soul astray from God. 11. An adver- 
sary, an opposer of Christianity, an 
antagonist, juggler, calumniator, who 
holds out false baits and false induce- 
ments to deceive and bewilder the 
mind. 12. A false prophet, teacher 
of lies and false doctrines. 13. Belze- 
bub, the father of lies. 14. He ap- 
pears as an angel of light, is mild, 
peaceable, polite, pleasing, plausible, 
but full of envy and malignity ; he 
charms first, and then diffuses his poi- 
son, and finally destroys his victim. 
15. He has two opinions, one public 
and one private ; one good, the other 
bad ; his bad opinion he makes public, 
his good opinion he conceals. 2 Cor. 
11:14. 16. He is a fallen angel, has 
two natures, angelic and diabolical ; 
he can never be restored to the favor 
of God again ; he sinned wilfully and 
maliciously, and therefore no sacrifice 
could be made for his sin. Had 
Adam sinned in the same way the 
Savior could not have atoned for his 
sins. See Heb. 10: 26. 

And yet, after all this, the devil is 
a believer in all the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity ; he knows them all to be just 
and true : he believes and trembles. 
Jas. 2 : 19; Mark, 1 : 24. 

And now, poor, deluded sinner, 
this is the wicked and diabolical mas- 
ter you have been serving all your 
days, and if you desert not his cause 
he will have you in the end under his 
dominion for ever ; which, may the 
great Head of the church prevent. 
Amen. 



' * This was not one of his first born sons., who was called after his father the 
chap. 12: 9, but the very devil himself. 



REVELATION. 



273 



Bound him. Restrained, hindered, 
prevented him from deceiving the hu- 
man family as he had done in all ages 
of the world, i. e. before the coming 
of Christ. The door of perdition was 
shut and bolted against him, so that 
he should not escape from his prison 
until the thousand years were ended; 
then he was to be let loose again to 
deceive Gog and Magog.* 

A thousand years. From the re- 
surrection of Christ ; he was let loose 
at this time to deceive and destroy 
the Jews ; he was let loose again in 
a thousand years from that time to 
deceive the Gentiles, i. e. Gog and 
Magog, as they are the deceiving and 
ruling power among the Gentiles. 

The Rabbins say that when Mes- 
siah comes he will give a new law, _ 
a new Sabbath, new sacrifices, a new 
altar and ministry, and that time will 
begin anew. The Jews kept the 
seventh day holy in memory of crea- 
tion. We keep the first day of the 
week holy in memory of the new 
creation (redemption). And is it not 
more likely that as the christian Sab- 
bath began on the first day of the 
week, that is the day when Christ 
rose from the dead, that the thousand 
years then commenced, and not with 
the birth of the Savior ; especially as 
he did not confirm his mission as Mes- 
siah until he rose from the dead. 
This, therefore, would bring the end 
of the thousand years to the year of 
our Lord 1033 ; we should not look 



beyond that period for an accomplish- 
ment of them, especially as all the 
events predicted in this book were 
then fulfilled. We can reason accu- 
rately from the past to the present. 
If we can ascertain when the pro- 
phecy was fulfilled, we can with the 
same degree of certainty tell when it 
began. There can be no doubt, then, 
that Gog and Magog of Ezekiel means 
pagan Rome, and that Gog and Magog 
of the Revelation means Papal Rome. 
The kingdoms of this world, during 
the thousand years, became the king- 
doms of our Lord and his Christ ; 
paganism then fell, and Christianity 
was substituted in its stead ; but at 
the expiration of the thousand years 
the church of Rome apostatised from 
Christianity and returned to idolatry, 
and now John in his predictions makes 
no distinction between papal and pagan 
Rome ; he considers one system equal- 
ly as vile and wicked as the other. 

1. Then Gog and Magog can be 
interpreted of no other people but the 
people and church of Rome ; and not 
only so, but the Rabbins all understand 
it in the same way. 2. This people 
were, at the expiration of that time, 
to have dominion (not absolute) in the 
four quarters of the earth. This was 
literally the case with the prince and 
people of Rome. 3. They are repre- 
sented by John as a persecuting pow- 
er ; "they surrounded the camp of 
the saints " to put to death all who 
would not submit to popery ; and this 



* The last clause of the 21st verse of the former chapter ends with the final destruc- 
tion of Babylon, and this begins with chaining the devil, and the shutting him up in the 
bottomless pit. He was let loose to destroy this city and people ; and when he had ac- 
complished his work, he was immediately bound up again. From this the reader may 
easily perceive that the thousand years commenced about the time alluded to, 

35 



274 



XOTES ON THE 



lias been the character of that church 
in ever} r age, from that time to the 
present. 4. They reduced the church 
of Christ by persecution to a little 
camp, who had to flee into the wil- 
derness to escape their fury. 5. They 
were a warlike people also, for they 
fought furiously with their enemies ; 
(and Magog means a prince literally.) 
6. Church and state, the temporal and 
spiritual power, w r ere then united. 7. 
Universal darkness, ignorance of God 
and spiritual things, errors in doc- 
trines and laxity in morals had spread 
their sable mantle all over the world. 
8. This was the time the church of 
Rome shook off Christianity and sub- 
stituted in its stead a mongrel system 
of religion, made up of paganism, Ju- 
daism, and Christianity. " She became 
all things to all men," in order to gain 
the more. 9. The blessed book of 
God, the Bible, was then prohibited 
to be read by the people, and this in 
direct opposition to our Lord's express 
command. John, 5: 39. 10, The 
priests were forbidden to marry, 
while the Scriptures declare marriage 
to be honorable in all ; and St. Peter, 
their own patron saint, was a married 
man, and so were all the apostles, ex- 
cept Paul and Barnabas; and Paul 
declares that it was lawful for him, 
though not expedient as a missionary, 
to have a wife. Matt. 8:14; 1 Cor. 
9 : 5. This, therefore, was the very 
time the devil was let loose to deceive 
the pope and people of Rome. 

The Rabbins say that when Mes- 
siah comes he will reign a thousand 
years spiritually on the earth, and 
that during that time he will utterly 
destroy idolatry and renew and reno- 
vate the world. Tal. Bab. Sanhe- 
drim fol. 93:1,2; and also Rabb, 



sec. 5, fol. 185: 4. From this we 
may clearly deduce the following in- 
ferences : 1. That the thousand years 
either began with his birth or his 
death, or, more properly, his resurrec- 
tion ; because it was then he finished 
the work of Redemption, or the new 
creation, and was declared, as before 
observed, to be the Son of God, with 
power, by his resurrection from the 
dead. 2. It is more likely that it com- 
menced with the latter than the for- 
mer, because the Sabbath began 
anew : and no doubt a new era of 
time began then also; and not only 
so, but many distinguished saints, 
(probably martyrs,) rose from the 
dead with him, and went into the holy 
city, and appeared unto many, and 
great fear fell on the people. Matt. 
27 : [52, 53. 3. This, probably, is 
what is denominated the first resur- 
rection, or the beginning of it. 4. 
During the first thousand years idola- 
try was utterly destroyed, and Chris- 
tianity substituted in its place. Ter- 
tullian assures us that this was the 
case. He observes, " Christ has now 
come, and his reign is established on 
earth." 5. The conversion of the 
Gentiles commenced on the day of 
Pentecost, and not before. Acts, 11 : 
18. It was then that they heard the 
apostles preach the gospel to them in 
their own tongues wherein they were 
born, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, etc. 

Therefore, the reign of Christ here 
must mean the predominant reign of 
Christianity over Judaism and hea- 
thenism, during the thousand years 
alluded to. It was during that time 
that a nation was born in a day, that 
" the heathen was given to Christ for 
his inheritance and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for his possession," 



REVELATION. 



275 



What makes the matter still more 
clear, is this : the day when the Is- 
raelites were delivered from Egyptian 
bondage was, with them, the begin- 
ning of days and years. The first of 
April was the beginning of the year, 
and the Passover was to be a memo- 
rial of their deliverance. Exod. 12 : 
2. The apostle Paul assures us this 
was but the shadow of good things to 
come, and the substance is of Christ. 
This prefigured the redemption of the 
world by our Lord Jesus Christ, a 
memorial of which is kept up in his 
church to the present time. "For as 
often as ye eat this bread and drink this 
cup ye show forth the Lord's death 
rill he come." 1 Cor. 11 : 26. And 
as the Jewish year then began anew, 
so the christian year and Sabbath 
began anew ; that is, when Christ 
finished our redemption and rose from 
the dead. And what is very remark- 
able, our Lord was crucified on the 
very day and hour when the Paschal 
Lamb was killed in Egypt. Accord- 
ing to my calculation of time, we are 
now in 1880, instead of 1847, with- 
in 120 years of the two thousand 
years alloted to the Gentiles. This 
was the precise time Noah was pre- 
paring the ark for the security of him- 
self and family, before the general 
deluge ; and this, no doubt, is the 
time allowed to us Gentiles to pre- 
pare to meet the Judge of all the 
earth. Therefore, great events are at 
hand. 1. The sons of Shem, (the 
J ews,) will be converted to Christianity 
and taken into Christ, the spiritual ark 
of safety. 2. Before this can take place 
the stumbling-block, Gog and Magog, 
is to be removed out of the way. 3. 
An extraordinary person, or persons 
(ministers) endowed with supernatural 
gifts and graces, shall be raised up to 



preach the unsearchable riches of 
Christ among the Jews. 4. He will 
be the honored instrument in the 
hands of God of their conversion. 5. 
Then Gabriel shall swear by him that 
liveth for ever and ever, that time 
shall be no longer. 

The light of the glorious gospel 
shone with peculiar lustre on a be- 
nighted world until intercepted by the 
darkness and errors of popery. Hilde- 
brand, a bishop of the church of Rome, 
was then constituted both a prince and 
a pope ; had the temporal and spiritual 
power blended ; church and state was 
united, and the triple crown put on 
his head, and a drawn sword in his 
hand to slay his enemies. Then fol- 
lowed all the errors in doctrine and 
discipline, the mysteries and mum- 
meries of papal Rome. She discarded 
all the essential doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, and substituted in their stead 
mass for the dead, penance, purgato- 
ry, the celibacy of the clergy, absolu- 
tion of sin by the priest, (who is a sin- 
ner himself,) transubstantiation, indul- 
gences, intercession of saints, worship 
of images, burning of the Bible and 
of heretics, the dreadful Inquisition, 
infallibility of the pope, works of su- 
pererogation, justification by works, 
and not by faith, church service in an 
unknown tongue, (Latin,) fasts and 
feasts forbidden in God's holy word, 
desecration of the christian Sabbath, 
commanding the people to keep no faith 
with heretics, and asserting the pope 
had power to absolve them from their 
allegiance to princes and potentates. 

Here, then, are some of the absurd 
doctrines which were then introduced 
into the church of Rome and sanc- 
tioned by the pope himself. Hilde- 
brand was one of the most vile and 
wicked men that ever lived ; more 



276 



NOTES ON THE 



3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him 
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the 



intolerant than even Nero. His own 
prelates denounce him as " a mon- 
ster in wickedness, a sorcerer, per- 
jured .man, a necromancer, usurper, 
devil and deist." To maintain his 
power in church and state he shed 
more innocent blood than all the mon- 
archs of Europe — that is, during his 
war of sixty years. He was such a 
despot that the world was glad to get 
rid of him. 

This, then, is the very pope through 
whom the papists trace out their suc- 
cession in the ministry to St. Pe- 
ter ; that is, through the most vile 
and wicked man that ever lived, a 
devil and a deist. They certainly 
have leaped over the fence here, and 
landed in another man's field ; but 
there were three popes at one time, all 
claiming the see of Rome. Surely, 
two of them must be usurpers ; and 
what is still more extraordinary, a 
wicked woman was constituted pope 
at another time. Did the succession, 
then, we ask, come through a wo- 
man ? And if so, which of the other 
three was the legal successor of St. 
Peter ? Here, then, are four links bro- 
ken in pieces in the chain of title, and 
all the tinkers in Europe and America 
can never weld them again. But 
when, pray, did Peter appoint a suc- 
cessor in the ministry ? Where did 
he do it ? and who was the very iden- 
tical man ? Let him be named, or let 
the Romish church be silent for ever. 

As to the chair itself, it is a mere 
humbug, for St. Peter never sat in 
a chair, nor never saw one during his 



life ; they are of modern invention, 
like steam boats. The Jews never sat 
on chairs, but on mats and cushions ; 
and chairs are never named even in 
the Bible ; but Napoleon Bonaparte 
will solve the mystery of St. Peter's 
chair at Rome. He describes it as an 
old Mahomedan one, with an Arabic 
inscription on the back of it, viz : 
" There is but owe God, and Mahomet 
is his prophet." This chair, he ob- 
serves, was sent by one of the crusa- 
ders as a present to the pope, and it 
was so curious that he christened it 
St. Peter's chair. " My soldiers," 
he observes, " took it from the see of 
Rome to France, but when the pope 
was restored, this chair was returned 
to St. Peters." This is not more sin- 
gular than John the Baptist's head, 
his finger and foot, the very identical 
cross on which Christ was crucified 
eighteen hundred years since, and the 
very towel with which he wiped the 
sweat off his face ; and some drops of 
his blood which are preserved in a bot- 
tle ; all of which are to be seen in 
Rome to this day. Now, is not this 
marvellous 1 It really requires a 
miracle to believe it.. 

3 Cast him into the bottomless pit, or 
pit of destruction. He cast him down 
head foremost, until he came rolling 
over and over to the bottom of the pit. 

Shut him up, locked him up, se- 
cured and chained him to the floor of 
perdition, as the old murderer. The 
same hand and key that opened the 
door locked it again. 

Set a seal. The King's seal of se- 



REVELATION. 



277 



nations no more, till the thousand years should be ful- 
filled ; and after that he must be loosed a little season. 



curity, viz, that of King Jesus. He 
is the person to bind the strong man 
armed. The Rabbins say the Lord 
of the universe, with she-tiyah — that 
is, a stone sealed the pit of destruc- 
tion. Targ. Jonath on Exodus 28 : 30.* 
That he should deceive the nations 
no more, that is, of Jews and Gen- 
tiles, he persuaded the Jews to be- 
lieve that Jesus of Nazareth is not 
the Messiah ; and the Gentiles, that 



the worship of idols is the worship of 
God,f and that justification by works 
is justification by faith. 

Till the thousand years should be 
fulfilled or ended. He could not 
eclipse the light of the glorious gos- 
pel from the minds of the people, at 
least for the first thousand years of 
the Messiah's reign ; after this he 
was to be let loose to deceive the na- 
tions of the earth. t 



* We read in Matt. 27 : 66, that the chief priests and pharisees sealed the stone of 
our Savior's sepulchre, lest his disciples should come by night and steal the body away. 
This was done to make the door of the sepulchre more secure than before ; so that the 
above expression means no more than this, that he made him more secure than before, 
to prevent his escape. 

f The Jews elsewhere are called the nations or kindreds of the earth. Chap. 1 : 7. 
Never was there a nation on earth more blindfolded by the god of this world, and by his 
wicked agents, than they. Their own historian says that the seditious trampled upon all 
the laws of men, and laughed at the laws of God, and for the oracles of the prophets, 
they ridiculed them as the tricks of jugglers, seeWar, book 4, 6, 3. And as for some of the 
citizens, they believed that God was yet among them, and that their city and temple could 
never be destroyed by the Romans. And we read, that the coming of the man of sin was 
to be after the working (the internal agency) of Satan, with all power, and signs, and 
lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Chap. 
13 : 14. And for this cause, says the apostle, God shall send them strong delusion, that 
they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but 
had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

X We see from this, that he was to be restrained from deceiving the nations of the 
earth until the expiration of the thousand years ; and then to be let loose again to deceive 
the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth; verse 8. But to suppose that he 
was restrained from tempting believers and instigating the wicked to evil, is inconsistent ; 
from the foundation'of the world to the present, he has never been deprived of this power, 
Under the Old Testament dispensation he persuaded some of the wicked Jews to murder 
their own prophets and righteous men ; and under the Gospel dispensation he has, in like 
manner, influenced his agents to persecute and put to death the innocent followers of 
Christ ; but that his kingdom was depopulated throughout the world during the thousand 
years, every person who has read church history must admit. Immediately after the de- 



278 



NOTES ON THE 



4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of 
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and 
for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the 



A little season. If his r race be 
swift it is but short, if he had full 
liberty, he would no doubt destroy 
the whole world in one day.* 

4 i" saw thrones. Of judgment and 
justice ; the same as the sanhedrin 
among the Jews ; these spiritual 
thrones were in the heavenly Jeru- 
salem on earth as well as in heaven 
itself ; this may allude to the special 
punishment which was about to be 
inflicted on spiritual Babylon because 



of the murder and martyrdom of the 
holy prophets and apostles. Her sins 
had reached to heaven, and went be- 
forehand to judgment.! 

And judgment was given unto 
them. The power of life and of death 
was in the hands of the twelve apos- 
tles — they were our Savior's grand 
and special jury, and he the judge of 
all the earth to pass sentence accord- 
ing to both law and gospel. 

/ saw the souls. The real identi- 



struction of Jerusalem, the kingdom of the devil fell throughout the world, like lightning 
from heaven ; and the glorious kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was built 
upon the ruins thereof. St. John had evidently seen this in the vision, when he said 
"' the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, 
and he shall reign for ever and ever." 

* Never was there a prophecy more literally fulfilled than this. From the year of our 
Lord 70, until A. D. 1033, the light of the glorious gospel shone upon the world like the 
sun in its meridian; but about the above period the darkness of popery began to over- 
spread the whole universe ; it darkened the very horizon, and obstructed the light of the 
glory of God from the minds of the people. Gross ignorance, su[ erstition, unbelief, and 
idolatry, began once more to overspread the earth ; and had not God, by his mighty 
power, put a stop to this spreading evil by raising up faithful men to protest against it, 
and the world in general, it would have been more ignorant and blindfolded by the 
devil than before. See verse 8. 

t Our Lord had promised to his apostles, that when he should sit in the throne of his 
glory, that they should also sit with him uj on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
of Israel. Matt. 19 : 28. And now this promise was literally fulfilled, for the twelve 
tribes of the Je vs were destroyed, and the time for them to be judged had now come ; 
verse 12. Christ himself was to be their judge, and these twelve apostles the jury ; the 
latter was to pronounce them guilty, and the former to pass the sentence, " depart ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." So that it was abso- 
lutely necessary the twelve apostles should be in glo,*y before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. 



REVELATION. 



279 



beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 
upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived 
and reigned with Christ a thousand vears. 



cal 'persons, their souls and bodies 
were re-united and raised to glory 
and honor. Souls, is a usual mode of 
expression for persons, men, women, 
and children. Gen. 12 : 5. Exod. 
12 : 4. Acts, 2 : 41. 

That were beheaded. The mur- 
dered martyrs and ministers of Jesus, 
men and women, young and old, rich 
and poor, bond and free, who laid 
down their lives freely for the name 
of Jesus. It was a very serious thing, 
indeed, at this early period of the 
church, to become a christian ; it was 
at the very risk of a man's life, liber- 
ty and estate, all were at the mercy 
of one man, viz. Nero, who abhorred 
the christians, because opposed to his 
views. 

For the witness of Jesus. That he 
was the Christ, the Son of the living 
God, the King of Israel, and the only 
Savior of sinners. 

And for the word of God. The 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, em- 
bracing the whole history of his life, 
death, suffering, miracles, resurrec- 
tion and ascension to glory. 

And icho had not worshipped his 
image.. That is, theimage of Vespa- 
sian. It was considered high treason 
in a Roman citizen not to worship the 
image of the emperor, and was pun- 
ishable with death. The christians 
would neither take the oath of alle- 
giance to him, nor worship his image. 
This they could not do, because it was 
gross idolatry • if they did do it, they 
certainly had renounced their alle- 



giance to King Jesus, and this they 
would not do for all the silver and 
gold in the universe, therefore they 
chose rather to die than to deny their 
Lord and Master. See chapter 13 ; 
15, 16, 17. 

Th ey lived and reigned with Christ 
a thousand years. That is, the mar- 
tyrs of Jesus, the souls that were be- 
headed for the witness of Jesus, it 
was those exclusively and distinctly 
that lived and reigned with Christ a 
thousand years invisibly in Paradise. 
Earth is not in the text, nor is it pos- 
sible, in the nature of things, that 
Christ should reign as a king person- 
ally on the earth. He is not a tem- 
poral but a spiritual king, nor is his 
kingdom of this world. It is righte- 
ousness, joy and peace in the Holy 
Ghost ; he is a high priest for ever, 
after the order of Melchizedec. He 
is also our advocate with the Father, 
and will continue such until he has 
delivered up the kingdom to God, 
even the Father, when all rule, all 
authority, and all power shall be put 
under his feet, then he will assume 
the character of a judge, and after 
this he shall take his seat on his great 
white throne in glory, which he re- 
signed when he came into the world 
to save man. And again, " the hea- 
vens must receive (continue) him 
until the final restitution of all things." 
Acts, 3: 21. 

Finally, there are three reigns of 
Christ spoken of in this book : 1, The 
predominant reign of Christianity over 



2S0 



\OTES ON THE 



5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrec- 
tion. 



Judaism and heathenism, during the 
first thousand years of the christian 
era. 2, The invisible or spiritual reign 
of Christ and his martyrs in Para- 
dise, a thousand years after the first 
resurrection. 3, The personal reign of 
Christ and his saints a thousand years 
after the general resurrection. The 
world will then be refined and puri- 
fied by fire, and be made fit for his 
reception ; at present it is impure, 
unholy and utterly unfit for his resi- 
dence. It now belongs to the prince 
and power of the air, the god of this 
world ; and Christ has to dispossess 
the strong man armed, and then take 
the kingdom from him and possess it 
for ever and ever. But this point is 
still more clear from the prayer of 
the penitent thief on the cross and 
our Lord's reply to him. He said, 
Lord remember me when thou comest 
(hast entered) into thy kingdom. And 
Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say un- 
to thee, to-day shalt thou be with me 
in Paradise, (that is, in my spiritual 
kingdom.) Luke, 23: 42, 43. 

To suppose for a moment, that 
disembodied spirits can reign visibly 
on the earth, is not according to 
the order of God, Jesus is the king 
immortal, invisible, and cannot be 
both invisible and visible at the 
same time, but the Rabbins state dis- 
tinctly, that his reign is to be invisi- 
ble or spiritual ; but on the other 
hand, if we believe that he is to 
come and reign literally on the earth, 
then there must be two general judg- 



ments — one is to take place before his 
reign, when the wicked shall all be 
destroyed, and not an unrighteous man 
be left on the earth. At the expira- 
tion of a thousand years a second 
general judgment is to take place. 
Rev. 20: 12. But if the whole 
world is to be righteous, and con- 
tinue such during the thousand }-ears, 
where then, ice ask, did Gog and 
Magog come f rom ? they are a pow- 
erful nation without number, with a 
prince at their head, are a persecut- 
ing power and will surround the 
camp of the saints, and God shall de- 
stroy them with fire from heaven, 
which proves that they had not yet 
been destroyed, viz. before the thou- 
sand years, nor during that time, nor 
after that time ; and to suppose they 
were diabolical spirits, raised up 
from the dead to persecute and de- 
stroy the church would be absurd, 
and not only so, but the devil came 
to earth to deceive Gog and Magog. 
The fathers of the church differ 
widely in their opinion from the chil- 
dren of this generation. 

5 The rest of the dead. Those 
who died a natural death in the Lord, 
they were not included in the first 
resurrection, as this was a special and 
particular resurrection of the mar- 
tyrs of Jesus. 

Lived not again. Were not raised 
to life again, there was no promise of 
this kind to them, it was made ex- 
clusively to the martyrs of Jesus ; is 
it not curious, therefore, that men who 



REVELATIOX. 



281 



6 Blessed and holy u he that hath part in the first 



would not sacrifice one dollar for Je- 
sus, no, nor preach one gospel sermon 
freely to perishing sinners, should lay 
claim to a part in the first resurrec- 
tion ? I wish the Savior would come 
to earth at present; he certainly would 
expel all such men from the church. 

The devil deceived the Jews and 
persuaded them to believe in a Mes- 
siah to come, and not in a Messiah 
who has come, and he is operating 
on us Gentiles in the same way — he 
is persuading us to believe in an im- 
mediate, personal and visible reign 
of Christ, and not in a spiritual reign 
of him who has come. The general 
Judgment, my brethren, is the most 
important thing to be looked for, and 
it is much nearer, probably, than we 
imagine, the signs of the times indi- 
cate that a great change is at hand, 
the fields are white already to har- 
vest, the world is getting worse and 
worse every year, instead of better 
and better, and is now fully ripe for 
destruction, therefore, watch and pray 
always, that ye may be counted 
worthy to overcome. The Savior 
will come in an hour when we least 
expect him, and as a thief in the 
night, sudden and unexpected, but 



the day and the hour he has never as 
yet revealed to any man, and never 
will till time shall be no more. It is 
absurd, therefore, and contradictory 
to his most holy word, to fix a day 
or an hour for his coming. 

This is the first resurrection. This 
is a particular resurrection of the 
ministers and martyrs of Jesus — men 
who counted not their lives dear to 
them, so that they might be found in 
Christ and overcome at last. The 
second resurrection will be general, 
the dead, small and great, shall stand 
before God ; the young and the old, 
the rich and the poor, the black and 
the white, the bond and the free, the 
saint and the sinner, shall all appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ 
to answer for the deeds done in the 
body, whether they be good or bad, 
and we that remain and are alive 
when he comes shall be caught up 
in the air, be translated in a moment, 
and be with Christ for ever.* Paul 
alludes to the first resurrection. Phil. 
3:11, Herme, T»v sf avas-rasr/v. The 
first or extraordinary resurrection. 
See 1 Thes. 4 : 16. 

6 Blessed. Happy, glorious, honor- 
able. 

* 



* This was a particular resurrection of the martyrs of the blessed Jesus, and not a 
general resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked ; and if a resurrection, it cer- 
tainly must have been that of the body, and not of the soul, and of course the body must 
have been changed from mortal to immortal, and the soul re-united to the spiritual body. 
But was it a visible or an invisible reign of Christ and his martyrs ? Certainly an invisi- 
ble one to the eye of the body, but a visible reign to the eye of faith ; to suppose that men 
who were beheaded, killed with the sword, and burnt alive at the stake, should return to 
earth again, and visibly reign with Christ in their former personal appearance, would be 
a very erroneous idea indeed. 

36 



XOTES ON THE 



resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, 
bat they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall 
reign with him a thousand years. 

7 And when the thousand years are expired Satan 
shall be loosed out of his prison, 



And holy, Pure, perfect and fit for 
glory.* 

Hath part in the first resurrection. 
He will then be a companion of the 
King of glory, walk and talk with 
Jesus, sit by his side in his king- 
dom, eat and drink at his table, with 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Will range the blest fields, on the banks 

of the river. 
And sing Hallelujah for ever and ever. 

i* The Jews all wished to die in the 
laud of Israel, because they believed 
they would be the first to rise from 
the dead and reign with the Messiah 
a thousand years in Paradise." 

On such the second death hath no 
power. The Rabbins frequently speak 
of the second death, or the eternal 
torments of the damned ; they say it 



has no power over the righteous in 
the. world to come ; they shall neither 
see nor feel the effects of it in the 
life to come.f 

They shall be priests of God. They 
sliall all become ministering spirits to 
the heirs of salvation ; every pious 
man and woman has a guardian an- 
gel, who has the special and particu- 
lar charge of them by night and by 
day. What a glorious thought this 
is 1 Blessed be our God for ever for 
bis parental care over his poor help- 
less creatures. Ps. 36 : 7. 

7 When the thousand years are ex- 
pired. They expired about the year 
of our Lord 1033, dating the thou- 
sand years from our Lord's resurrec- 
tion, for it was then he finished the 
work of our redemption. 



* Those who died martyrs for Christ, from the commencement of Christianity, and 
before this period, until the destruction of Jerusalem, had a part in the first resurrection ; 
and it was those, in particular, who reigned with Christ the thousand years ; but all those 
who died martyrs for Christ after this period, and during the thousand years, had also a 
part or a share in this resurrection ; and they were more particularly blessed than other 
christians, who died a natural death, for they were the first that were raised to glory and 
that reigned with their Savior. This was the very reason why such a vast number of the 
primitive christians gloried in dying martyrs for Christ, i. e. because they knew they 
should have a part in the first resurrection. Some of the Roman emperors perceived 
that the christians gloried in martyrdom, and would not gratify them so far as to punish 
them in this manner. 

t If you prefer to be burnt alive at the stake rather than deny Christ and renounce yotn 
holy religion, you shall be saved from the efiveu of the second death. 



REVELATION. 



283 



8 And shall vo out to deceive the nations which are in 

o 

the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather 

them together to battle : the number of whom is as the 
o 

sand of the sea. 



Satan shall be loosed out of his 
prison. The angel that locked the 
door shall then open it again, and 
permit him to come out, to deceive 
Gog and Magog,* and gather them 
together once more to battle. Rome 
was the seat of the Pagan beast, it 
is now the see of the papal beast, who 
is far more intolerant than the Pa- 
gan beast ; free toleration, liberty of 
conscience is not known there. St. 
Peter himself would not nowbe allow- 
ed to preach Christ and him crucified, 
in the Pope's dominions. Paul was 
permitted to do it under Nero without 
the imperial edict. The pope is direct- 
ly the opposite of our Savior in every 
respect — proud, haughty, imperious, 
sordid, selfish, bigoted, superstitious, 
and a persecutor of pious and 
good men. Oh! how unlike him 
who was meek and lowly in heart 
and in life, and who gave his life a 
ransom for all, to be testified in due 
time. The Rabbins believe that 
mount Vesuvius is the very gate of 
hell ; if so, the devil is near his pal- 
ace at Rome, and can preside there 
morning and evening without much 
inconvenience. 



Gog and Magog. Ezekiel calls pa- 
gan Rome such, and John calls papal 
Rome such, because she had apos- 
tatized from Christianity and returned 
to idolatry ; that is at the expiration 
of the thousand years. Magog was 
the son of Japeth, who peopled the 
north, that is Italy and Rome. Eze- 
kiel calls them the northern nation, 
and they were always designated 
among the Jews as Gog and Ala go g. 
See chap. 11 : 7. There this subject 
is made so plain and simple that no 
man can doubt that Gog and Magog 
of the Revelation mean the Pope of 
Rome and his people. 

The Rabbins declare that Gog and 
Magog is the nation that shall de- 
stroy Jerusalem in the days of the 
Messiah. Targum on Cant. 8 : 4, 
(See verse 9.) It is perfectly clear, 
therefore, that Gog and Magog is 
papal Rome, and that she is yet, 
(for her idolatry and persecution of 
pious men,) to be destroyed by fire 
from heaven, or probably by a vol- 
canic eruption. The terms will ap- 
ply to no other people or nation on 
earth, 3*13 lofty, proud, haughty, 
contemptuous, disdainful, jUfa The 



* That is, those nations which had once been the kingdoms of our Lord and of hi* 
Christ ; he shall go out to blindfold them, or shut their eyes against the light, and causa 
them to depart from the truth ; he ha3 various ways of working, and he uses various 
methods to draw away the unstable soul from the path of holiness, 



284 NOTES ON THE 

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and 



prince of Gog, the pope, and prince 
of Rome beyond doubt.* 

To gather them to battle. To fight 
against Christ and his church, which 
she has done in all ages since the 
year 1033. The murder and martyr- 
dom of heretics with her is no sin, but 
rather a virtue. 



The number of whom is as the 
sand of the sea. That is, they' are 
without number, innumerable, found 
in every corner of the world, and 
every man, woman and child of them 
hostile to vital piety. 

9 And they went. Formerly when 
pagans, and now when papists. 



* The Romans are called Gog and Magog, in Ezek. chap. 38 : 16, 17, 18. They 
were well known to the Jews by the name of the Northern nation, because Rome was to 
the north of Jerusalem. In the 15th verse the prophet distinguishes them by this name ; 
and in the 16th verse he declared that they should come up against the people of Israel, 
(the Jews,) like a cloud, to cover the land. But chap. 39 : "23, puts the matter beyond 
doubt, for there they are called the heathens, and the very nation that was to destroy the 
Jews, and to lead the remainder into captivity. They were to destroy them by the sword 
oc by war. See the last clause of the verse. This is the very nation that St. John speaks 
of in chap. 19 : 17, and Ezekiel in 30: 2, IS. Gog, according to the latter, means the 
land and people, or dominion of Magog ; chap. 33 : 1. And Majog. the prince of Gog ; 
both these names signify high or exalted. So that they were applicable to both prince and 
people ; for the Ri mans had the dominion over all nations, and their prince or emperor 
presided over all other princes and kings ; and not only so, but they were exalted, in 
their own opinion, above every other people, because they had conquered the world. It 
is said that the dominion of Gog had already extended into the four quarters of the earth ; 
so that these tvo names were more applicable to the Romans than to any other nation 
under heaven. Ezekiel calls heathen Rome Gog and Magog: but St. John calls 
papal Rome such. When the kingdoms of this world had become the kingdoms of 
our Lord and of his Christ, then the Romans were no longer heathens, but christians. 
But after they had apostatized from the faith of the gospel, and embraced popery, they 
were no longer the followers of Christ, but apostates from the truth. So that the pope 
and his followers are Gog and Magog ; he is their prince, and they are his people. And 
it is well known that the pope and his followers presided over the principal part of the 
world, especially about the year of our Lord 1000; and never was there a person 
more puffed up in his own op.nion than he ; and never were there people more self- 
conceited thar. his followers. They believe that salvation cannot be obtained out of 
the church of Rome, and that all who do rot adhere to the pope must be damned ; and 
they have got to be so wise as to become fjols in religion ; they know so much as not to 
read the Bible at all, or even teach it to thiir children ; nor can any man convince them 
that they are a deceived people. Rome was the place of their nativity, and from this 
they were called Romans, and afterwards Catholics. 



REVELATION, 



285 



compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved 



Surrounded the camp of the faints. 
To persecute and put to death, as 
heretics, all who protested against 
their corruptions. We see from this 
that when they had dominion in the 
four quarters of the earth they had 
reduced the church of Christ to a 
little camp, which to escape their 
fury, had to live in tents or huts in 
the wilderness, to fly into the moun- 



tains and valleys for safety, the same 
as the christians in the days of our 
Savior; so that the papal beast is 
the same to-day that the heathen 
beast was eighteen hundred years 
since : Jerusalem was formerly called 
the camp of the saints, and now John 
calls the church of Christ {the spiri- 
tual Jerusalem,,) the camp of the 
saints. See Maimonides.* 



* Here we have a prediction which was literally and wonderfully fulfilled. The devil, 
we read, was chained in the bottomless pit a thousand years, and at the expiration of it 
he was to be let loose again to deceive the nations ; and this was actually the case. For 
about A. D. 1033 he had deceived the world so far as to persuade them to believe in the 
horrible doctrine of transubstantiation ; also the adoration of images, and justification by 
works ; and to accomplish this princes employed their authority to establish the Roman 
Catholic religion ; appointing for slaughter all those who denied transubstantiation and 
adoration of the host. The first who opposed the doctrine was Berengarius ; who, 
about the year of our Lord 1070, boldly and faithfully preached against it, and that 
with success, for he had many pious followers, who were called Berengarians. About 
twenty years after this they became very numerous. The next who boldly and faithfully 
opposed the doctrine was Peter Brusus, who taught long and publicly at Toulouse, 
under the protection of a nobleman of the name of Heldephonsus ; and about A. D, 
1147 Henry of Toulouse began to preach against it ; and shortly after this the Lord 
raised up Peter Valdo, a citizen of Lyons, in France. He was a faithful, zealous man 
for the tr iths of the gospel. His followers and himself were afterwards banished out of 
Lyons by order of Pope Alexander the Third. They afterwards spread themselves into 
different parts of the world ; he went himself into D tupheny, a id was a means in the 
hands of God of the conversion of many wicked people in that place. His followers 
spread themselves into Picardy; and from this they were called Picards. King Philip, 
through the influence of the pope and his clergy, afterwards took up arms against thenu 
He overthrew three hui dred gentlemen's houses, who were followers of Valdo's party, 
and destroyed several walled towns ; pursuing them into Flanders, whither they had fled, 
and causing them to be burnt to death. By means of this persecution many of them fled 
into Germany and Alsatia ; and shortly after, the bishops of Mayence and Strasburg 
raised a great persecution against them, causing five and thirty citizens of Mayence to 
be burnt alive in one fire, and eighty in another. And at Strasburg eighty more were 
burnt alive. And through the faith and patience of those martyrs, in the year 1315 there 
were in Passau and about Bohemia eighty thousand persons who made profession of the 
same faith. 



286 



NOTES ON THE 



city : and fire came down from God out of heaven, and 
devoured them. 



The beloved city. This may mean 
Jerusalem ; they encompassed that 
city with a wall, and with their army 
as predicted by our Lord and by Da- 
niel, and the people of the very same 
city and country surrounded the camp 
of the saints one thousand years af- 
terwards, and for the very same pur- 
pose, that is, to exterminate or utterly 
destroy them, but this the devil and 
all his emissaries cannot do, for Christ's 
kingdom shall never be destroyed, it 
is everlasting, and his dominion that 
which shall never pass away. Glory 
to God in the highest. Selah.* 

And fire shall come down from God 
out of heaven and consume them. That 
is, a severe and heavy judgment which 
will utterly destroy the whole city, 
pope and people of Rome, by either 
a volcanic eruption — eruption pro- 
ceeding out of the earth, or else by 
most terrible and dreadful lightning 
and thunder from heaven. Here 
then is a plain and positive prediction 
that remains yet to be fulfilled on the 
pope and city of Rome, (except they 
repent and renounce popery,) because 
of her idolatry, wickedness, apostacy, 
and persecution of pious and inoffen- 
sive protestants. The church of Rome 



was christian until the year of our 
Lord 1000 ; she then renounced Chris- 
tianity and returned to idolatry ; she 
therefore cannot be called a chris- 
tian church ; and if there was such a 
thing as a regular succession in the 
ministry from St. Peter, it is utterly 
impossible to trace it out beyond the 
year of our Lord 1033 ; then the chain 
was broken in two, and a new church 
formed, and a temporal prince in- 
stead of a pious minister of Christ 
appointed- to be head of the church 
of Rome. Had she continued to be 
a christian church she certainly would 
never have acknowledged any other 
head but Christ himself, and this is 
precisely the same view which the 
Rabbins entertain of Rome. A tradi- 
tion has existed among them from time 
immemorial that the "Jews will nev- 
er be restored to the Holy Land until 
the pope and people of Rome are de- 
stroyed, or consumed with fire from 
heaven." The time for this last vial 
to be poured out on the seat of the 
papal beast is at hand, the fulness of 
the Gentiles has now come, and all 
Israel shall be saved. These long 
looked for and remarkable events are 
at our very doors. As a nation of 



♦ This may mean the new Jerusalem, the beloved city of God, or the city where he 
chose to reside ; it was a city during the thousand years, but at the expiration of the 
thousand years it became reduced to a camp. But it is not improbable that, by the be- 
loved city, he meant Jerusalem. When heathens, they compassed this city round 
about with a wall and their whole army, and when papists they compassed the camp of 
the sainti about, to persecute and put to death all those who would not submit to the 
pope. 



REVELATION. 



2S7 



10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the 
lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false 



Gentiles was " born to God in a 
day" after Jerusalem was destroyed, 
.so in like manner a nation of Jews 
shall be bora to him in a day when 
Gentile Rome, the old and inveterate 
enemy of the Jews, shall be destroy- 
ed. May the great head of the 
church prepare us for the dreadful 
and heavy calamities which are com- 
ing on that people ! 

10 And the devil that deceived then.. 
The Rabbins say that when the holy 
and blessed God shall sit in Judg- 
ment, Satan shall be let loose to de- 
ceive high and low, rich and poor. 
Tal. Bab. Zevachim, fol. 116 ; and 
therefore this must be a special judg- 
ment. 

Cast into the lake of fire and brim- 
stone. Some men who wish to be wise 
above what is written, say this is im- 
possible. Wisdom declares all things 
to be possible with God ! Christ and 
his apostles, we presume, knew more 
about hell than we do, and they all 
have declared to the world that both 
fire and brimstone are in hell ; there 
is enough of it, we presume, in mount 
V tsuvius to burn up a thousand worlds 
like this, and if hell is beneath the 
surface of the earth, we are sure that 
plenty of it is there. Thank God, 
heaven is free from it, though hell is 
full of it. 

The Asbestos of Italy, commonly 
called the mountain flax, is of a pure 
white color, like cotton ; when prepar- 
ed and dried, it is very much like oar 
flax, but rather more soft and silky in 
appearance ; it is very remarkable. 



that it may be heated through in the 
hotest fire, but cannot be consumed— 
it comes out of the flame and fur- 
nace precisely the same as it went in. 
This experiment I have tried re- 
peatedly myself, and can vouch for 
the truth of this statement. The Ro- 
mans, when pagans, burned their dead 
instead of bmying them ; this was 
done by wrapping the dead body in a 
sheet made of the -mountain flax, and 
then placing it over the burning, pile 
until the body was consumed ; the 
ashes was after this taken and placed 
in an urn, and put either under ground 
or in a vault, but the sheet was not 
injured in the least degree by the fire. 
An urn of this description, with the 
ashes of some distinguished person 
is now to be seen in the Museum of 
the Missionary Society in Boston, it- 
was dug up near Beyrout by one of 
the missionaries. Now, then, if na- 
ture can produce a soft, pliable sub- 
stance like this, indestructable by fire, 
surely God, the author of nature, can 
change and fashion our vile bodies 
and make them immortal, so as to be 
able to bear with eternal fire without 
being destroyed or consumed. Beware 
sinner, how you trifle with sacred 
things ; God is not mocked ; whatso- 
ever a man soweth, the same in kind 
shall he also reap. If we sow to the 
flesh, we shall of the flesh reap cor- 
ruption, but if to the spirit, life ever- 
lasting. A confirmed drunkard, in 
my hearing, in the State of Michigan, 
asked a Universalist if he believed 
in hell fire and torment beyond the 



28S 



NOTES ON THE 



prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for 
ever and ever. 

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat 
on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
away ; and there was found no place for them. 



grave ; the other replied, surely not, 
there is no hell but conscience ; the 
drunkard again replied, that is my 
belief, and I never knew until this 
moment my religion ; I am now a 
good Universalist — 1 shall go on in 
the old course of drinking, gambling, 
tippling, lying, and I need not fear, I 
shall get to heaven at last. Now, then, 
Mr. , I thank you for explain- 
ing to me the nature of my re- 
ligion. 

Where the heast and the false pro- 
phet are. The father and the son, the 
prince and the pretended prophet. 
See chap. 11:7; 13-13.* 

For ever and ever. Through all suc- 
ceeding ages of eternity, if aiaviov 
means limited duration, when applied 
to the torments of hell, it must mean 
the same when applied to the joys of 
heaven ; and if the one shall finally 
end, the other must finally end also, 
and then both happiness and misery 
shall cease for ever. Why, this is 
perfect nonsense ; the very same ex- 
pression is applied to both heaven and 
hell in Matt. 25 : 46. 



11 J. great white throne. Of pu- 
rity, equity and justice ; there is no 
bribery, corruption or bankrupt law 
here ; you cannot take the benefit of 
the act with your pocket full of mo- 
ney, your store full of goods, and 
your house full of fine furniture, your 
wife and children also decked off in 
the best of silks every day. Remem- 
ber, therefore, that the poor widow 
and fatherless children whom you 
have defrauded will be brought up 
against you in the day of eternity, as 
swift witnesses, to add the greater 
weight to your guilt and punishment, 
khat is, unless you make restitution to 
them in this life. 

He that sat on it. King Jesus, the 
Judge of all the earth, who will re- 
ward every man according to his 
works, whether they be good or bad ; 
the wicked shall be punished with 
everlasting destruction from the pre- 
sence of the Lord and the glory of 
his power for ever and ever. Hence, 
the chief men among the Ye hoo dim 
Jews, will, with the blessed and holy 
God, sit to judge the whole universe. 



* Some men have gone so far as to try to make out this beast to be the Roman empire, 
which extended nearly throughout, the world ; and the false prophet to be a general suc- 
cession of popes ; but if thii be true, the whole Roman empire must have been cast alive 
into the lake of fire and brimstone, and they are to be tormented there for ever and ever. 
But St. John calls the beast a man, and not an empire. See chap. 13 : 15, 18. For the 
meaning of " for ever and ever,'' see chap. 5 : 14. 



REVELATION. 289 

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before 
God ; and the books were opened : and another book 



Yalkot, Simionie par. 2, fol. 41 : 4. 
See also 1 Cor. 6 : 2.* 

Before whom the earth and the 
heavens fled away. That is, before 
the generalJudgment ; the world was 
once destroyed by water, it will now 
be destroyed by fire, in order to re- 
fine, purify and prepare it like para- 
dise, for the Savior to dwell in, it 
will then be restored to its original 
and pure element ; small and great 
will be there, that is at the Judgment. 
Christ and his ministers, his mem- 
bers and martyrs will then, and not 
before, reign no doubt with him a 
thousand years personally on the 
earth ; the saints will be like Adam 
and Eve in paradise — walk and talk 
with God our Savior, but this cannot 
take place until this mortal shall have 
put on immortality — for flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of 
God, neither doth corruption inherit 
incorruption. We shall not all sleep, 
but be all changed, in a moment, in 
the twinkling of an eye, at the sound 
of the last trumpet. The Rabbins are 
of opinion that the world will last 
six thousand years, and that during 
the seventh the Messiah will sit on 
his great white throne, with his saints 
at his right hand, to reward the right- 
eous and condemn the w eked. They 
assert that as one day is with the 
Lord as a thousand years, and a thou- 
sand years as one day, and that as he 



was six days in creating the world, 
he will at the expiration of six thou- 
sand years destroy it. Peter seems to 
be of the same opinion. See 2 Epis- 
tle, chap. 3:8; 13, 14. Therefore, 
great events, as before observed, must 
be at hand ; Rome is to be destroyed, 
and the Jews then to be restored. 

12 Standbefore God. Be called up 
one by one to receive their final sen- 
tence from the Judge of all the earth, 
viz. our Savior: this custom prevails 
in the east to the present : several 
Arabs not long since were brought 
before the governor in Jerusalem for 
stealing ; they all stood up with down- 
cast looks and pale faces ; he examin- 
ed them one by one and found them 
guilty, and then pronounced the sen- 
tence, and gave them over to the offi- 
cer for punishment ; the bastinado 
was then applied most powerfully to 
each of them. The Judge of all the 
earth will proceed in the same way ; 
the criminals will all stand before him 
with downcast looks and guilty coun- 
tenances. Satan will stand ready at 
God's left hand to execute the final 
sentence, and when the Judge pro- 
nounces " Depart ye cursed into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels," he will then seize his vic- 
tim, and carry him off in a moment 
to perdition. Oh, eternity, eternity, 
who can bear the thought of dwelling 
in everlasting burnings. 



* It is called a white throne, because it never has been polluted with unjust proceed- 
ing's against any one. 

37 



290 



NOTES ON THE 



was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were 
judged out of those things which were written in the 
books, according to their works. 

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; 
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in 
them : and they were judged every man according to 
their works. 

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. 
This is the second death. 



And the looks were opened. The 
records of eternity, where all the ac- 
tions of the children of men, good, 
bad and indifferent, shall be laid be- 
fore the whole universe for adjustment. 
The Rabbins say there are three 
books, Sepharim Naphatim, one for 
the righteous, one for the wicked, and 
one for the unjust, dishonest person. 

Another book. Probably the gos- 
pel, the book of life and of death ; by 
it we shall be judged, and be either 
condemned or acquitted in the gene- 
ral Judgment. The law among the 
Rabbins was called the book of life. 

The dead were judged. This means 
the wicked who are dead in tres- 
passes and in sins ; the dead in Christ 
shall rise first, and receive their final 
and eternal reward, and then sit on 
the great white throne with Christ to 
ludge the world ; the wicked shall then 
be brought forward in the presence 
of the general assembly, and church 
of the first born, whom they have 
despised and persecuted on earth, and 
who shall now sit as a jury to bring 
in a ^sealed verdict of condemnation. 

13 And the sea gave up the dead. 
All that perished by sea and land, 



by war and bloodshed, will be called 
forth to Judgment. 

Death and hell. The grave and 
hell delivered up the dead which 
were in them ; that is, to be finally 
and eternally judged ; the soul when 
it departs this life has either a tem- 
porary reward or punishment, but 
now they are all called forth to hear 
their final and eternal sentence ; hence, 
nbiHdb t^SW ^ntth The wicked 
shall be returned into hell, with all 
the nations that forget God our Sa- 
vior. Ps. 9 : 17. The Jews rejected 
him, and were utterly destroyed. 
Atheists, Deists, Arians, Unitarians, 
with Gog and Magog reject him, and 
will all be bound up in bundles like 
sheaves of corn, and be burned up 
with unquenchable fire. Reader, it 
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands 
of the living God ; he is a consuming 
fire, out of Christ, to all the workers 
of iniquity. 

14 This is the second death. The 
one effects the body only, the other 
both soul and body ; the one disunites, 
the other re-unites soul and body for 
final and eternal punishment ; both 
deserve to suffer alike, as both were 



REVELATION. 



291 



15 And whosoever was not found written in the book 
of life, was cast into the lake of fire. 



companions in sin. The Rabbins have 
seven different names for hell.* 

1 She-ol. The eternal, invisible 
state of the dead. Ps. 9 : 17. 

2 A vaddon. The pit of perdition, 
destruction. Job, 26 : 6. 

3 Tath-tith. The lower regions of 
the damned. Deut. 32 : 22. 

4 Ho-shech. Gross, thick darkness, 
or the blackness of darkness for ever 
and ever. Jud. 13. Job. 10 : 21. 

5 Gal-zaUma-weih. The valley of 
the shadow of death, or the shades of 
perdition. Ps. 23 : 4. 

6 Tophet. A flaming furnace. Is- 
aiah, 30 : 33. 

7 Ge-chin-nom. A lake of fire and 



brimstone. Josh. 15 : 8. Jer. 7 : 31. 
See verse 10 of this chapter. 

15 Whosoever was not found writ- 
ten in the book of life. All those who 
found not the gospel to be the power 
of God unto the salvation of their 
souls, were cast into the lake of fire 
and brimstone. Reader, may the 
good Lord of the universe prevent 
you from being one of this number. 
If you do not repent, believe the gos- 
pel — obtain the remission of all your 
sins from the hand of God ; you are 
sure to perish for ever and ever. 
Hence, Rabb. Isaac says, " Wo to 
the wicked who are not written in 
the book of life, for they shall perish 
in the torments of hell for ever and 
ever." 



* As the first death is a final and an eternal separation from all the pleasures and hap- 
piness of this life, so the second death is a final and an eternal separation from the pre= 
sence of God and the glory of his power for ever and eyer. 



292 NOTES ON THE 



CHAPTER XXI 



AND I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the 
first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and 
there was no more sea. 



1 A new heaven and a new earth. 
A new church and a new ministry, 
or a new church and a renewed peo- 
ple, who were created anew in Christ 
Jesus. 2 Pet. 3 : 13. This is a quo- 
tation from Isaiah, 65 : 17, and is ap- 
plied by the prophet, in the 18th 
verse, to the new and heavenly Jeru- 
salem, distinguished as such, from the 
old and earthly Jerusalem. The word 
new is used by John and the Rabbins 
to, mean regenerated, renovated, pu- 
rified. Therefore, the regenerated 
church and ministry. Hence, in the 
Messiah's day, the earth and the 
heavens shall be renovated. Tal. Bab. 
Sanh. fol. 92, 2. Sk'liSl ho-rai, in 
Isaiah, is a present participle, and 
literally means He (Messiah) is reno- 
vating, renewing the heavens and the 



earth ; the very meaning which the 
Talmud attaches to it.* 

For the first heaven and the first 
earth had passed away. The Jewish 
heaven and earth had now vanished, 
disappeared, and the golden Phoenix 
sprung up out of its ashes. As soon 
as the one disappeared the other ap- 
peared in its place. The Jewish ta- 
bernacle was called heaven, because 
God took up his residence there ; the 
people were called the earth because 
said to be the salt of the earth, which 
preserved the world from dissolution. 

There was no more sea. Curse, 
war, plague, pestilence, famine, blood- 
shed, until the wars of Gog and MtT- 
gog. The sea, among the Rabbins, 
means hostile armies, war, blood- 
shed,,! 



* In the llth verse of the former chapter it is said, that the old heaven and the old 
earth had fled away from before the face of Him that sat upon the throne ; and now a new 
heaven and a new earth is represented as appearing in its place ; which means no more 
than the new and heavenly Jerusalem, or a new church and a new people, or a people cre- 
ated anew in Christ Jesus. 

t No more curse, see chap. 22 : 3. The curse that came upon the Jews is contained 
in the 23th chapter of Deuteronomy, commencing at the 16th and ending at the last 



REVELATION. 



293 



2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, 
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband. 

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, 
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will 
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God 
himself shall be with them, and be their God. 



2 I saw the holy city. The pure 
church and pure ministry, in reality ; 
not in shadow, but in substance. Here 
St. John explains what he means by 
the new heaven and the new earth. 
See above. 

The new Jerusalem. See chapter 
3: 12. 

Prepared. By faith and prayer, 
by purity of heart and life. 

As a bride adorned for her hus- 
band. The church is the bride, Christ 
the husband ; her garment is holiness 
to the Lord. She is clothed with the 
glory of God, and the moon is under 
her feet. Chap. 12: 1. She is like 
the king's daughter, all glorious with- 
in ; her garments are of wrought gold 
and needle work, and Prince Messiah 
is her spouse. 

3 Behold the tabernacle of God is 



with men. His high and holy place 
of residence. His ministers are his 
tabernacle ; he has promised to be 
with them especially while the world 
shall last. The church is his temple, 
the ministry the holy of holies ; and 
with them who are of an humble and 
contrite heart, and that trembles at 
his word, he has promised to dwell. 
Isa. 66:2; Ps. 114 : 2. Jesus, our 
great High Priest, is holy, harmless, 
underlie d, and separate from sinners ; 
and holiness becomes his house and 
people. " If any man defile the tem- 
ple of God, him will God destroy." 
And to his ministers especially he has 
said, " Be ye holy, for I the Lord 
your God am holy." The Rabbins 
speak of two sanctuaries ; one above 
in heaven, the other below, viz. on 
earth. 



verse. The blessing of the New Jerusalem is contained in Isaiah 65 : commencing at 
the 21st and ending at the last verse. Zechariah's flying roll is interpreted by the angel 
to signify the curse which was to extend throughout the world. See chap, 5 : 3. This, 
no doubt, is the place St. John alludes to ; and the reason why he compares the curse to 
the sea, is this : because it was to cover the earth as the waters the great deep. A little 
before the destruction of Jerusalem the world was like the troubled sea in the time of a 
storm, it was in a state of general commotion by means of the curse. , " Nation rising 
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes in divers places, pestilence 
and famine, the sea roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear of those things which 
were then coming upon the world." 



294 



NOTES ON THE 



4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; 
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the 
former things are passed away. 



He will dwell with them. For ever 
and ever. The chariots of God are 
twenty thousand, even thousands of 
ministers ; the Lord is among them, 
as in Sinai, in his holy place. Ps. 
68: 17. May he ever continue among 
them until time shall be no more. 
Amen, and amen.* 

And they shall be his people. He 
will call them beloved which were 
not beloved, and his people which 
were not his people. The son of the 
bond woman shall now be cast out, 
and the son of the free woman become 
heir to the spiritual inheritance, which 
is incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven 
for us. See Gal. 4 : 28, 29, 30. 

God himself shall be with them. 
He will never leave nor forsake them 
who trust in him by faith ; he never 
has done it, he never will do it. His 



promises are not yea and nay, but 
yea and amen in Christ Jesus. 

4 He shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes. He shall abundantly 
reward them for all their toil, labor, 
persecution, affliction, and dry up all 
their tears. They shall now be so 
happy, prosperous, rich, glorious, as 
to forget all their former affliction and 
persecution. See Isa. 25 : 8. 

There shall be no more death. That 
is, by martyrdom or general persecu- 
tion, viz : until the reign of Gog and 
Magog. But it may mean, however, 
the curse alluded to, verse 1. See 
Introduction. 

IS either any more crying. Instead 
of weeping, there shall be a time of 
rejoicing, of great peace and prosperi- 
ty to the church. She shall take the 
wings of the morning and fly to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. 



* The Jews were of the opinion that God himself perpetually resided in their temple ; 
and they were so puffed up with this opinion, that they thought it impossible their city 
should be taken, or the temple burnt by their enemies : but when they saw it burnt down 
by the Roman army, they gave up all hopes of being saved. Had the Almighty dwelt 
among them as a nation, they never could have been conquered by their enemies. When 
the king of Assyria marched his numerous army to destroy the city, the Lord their God 
sent his angel that night and destroyed in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000, and when 
they arose in the morning, behold they were all dead men : so Sennacherib king of Assy- 
ria departed, and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. 2 Kings, 19 : 35, 36. But God and 
his Holy Spirit had now departed from them, and left their city and temple desolate. 
Matt. 23 : 38, 39 ; and it was but a short time after this until they were deitroyed by th« 
Roman army. 



REVELATION, 



295 



5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I 
make all things new. And he said unto me, Write : for 
these words are true and faithful. 



Any more pain. From the fire, 
furnace, faggot, prison, persecution, 
scourge, or banishment into foreign 
countries.* 

For the former things have passed 
away. The cause which produced 
the effect of all your sufferings is now 
removed, the mother of harlots and 
abominations of the earth is dead, and 
your sufferings have died with her; 
the wild beasts of the earth are sa- 
tiated with her flesh and Hood, are 
tired of war, and wish to return to 
private life : they will take the field 
no more against you or any other na- 
tion; the saints shall now take the 
kingdom from the beast and possess it 
for ever and ever. King Messiah 
shall reign in peace and prosperity a 
thousand years, and then Satan will 
be loosed for a little season to deceive 
Gog and Magog, f 



5 He that sat on the throne. Christ 
himself. Chap. 20: 11. 

I make all things new. As I have 
created the old world, I shall now 
bruise the serpent's head, destroy his 
kingdom, power, and influence over 
all men, and create the world anew, 
Will remodel, renew, regulate, and 
set all the discordant elements in order 
or in their proper place. Will call, 
qualify, appoint, and send forth my 
own ambassadors into every part of 
the world to preach my gospel. I 
shall admit proper persons into my 
church, and exclude improper per^ 
sons from it. My people shall become 
a mighty and powerful nation, and 
shall be regulated by my law and 
gospel, and walk in all my command- 
ments and ordinances blameless. I 
shall have a faithful and spiritual 
ministry, and as to the membership, 



* All believers who were born Jews, had to suffer more from their own nation than 
from the heathen. They used all their influence to persuade them to deny Christ and to 
renounce the christian religion ; and not only so, but they had them persecuted and 
treated with the utmost contempt. 

t The cause that produced the effect of all your pain is now removed ; death is swal- 
lowed up in victory ; it has lost its sting, and hell shall produce no more pain to your 
mind, it shall have no more power nor influence over you. This clause of the verse has 
reference to the second clause of the first verse, where it is said, " the first heaven and 
the first earth had passed away," the heavens or the earth remaining, or even the thought 
of being removed, could not effect the minds of those holy christians so as to produce 
great pain, sorrow, and crying. If this were St. John's meaning, he certainly would 
contradict what he has said elsewhere : for in chap. 12 : 11, it is said, that they " loved not 
their lives unto death." This plainly shows that they were saved from the fear of death 
and of judgment; so that we must admit that the first verse of this chapter cannot bs 
understood literally. 



296 NOTES ON THE 

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him 
that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 



all my children shall be taught of the 
Lord, and great shall be the peace of 
my people ; finally every thing sha- 
dowed forth in the Jewish Church 
shall now be carried out in substance 
in my church. See chap. 2:1. John 
is referring here to things which 
should take place immediately after 
the fall of mystical Babylon, and not 
after the expiration of the thousand 
years.* 

6 It is done. The old city is des- 
troyed and the new built up on the 
ruins thereof. See Chap. 16 : 17. 

I am Alpha and Omega. See 
Chap. 1 : 11. 

I will give him that is athirst. That 
is earnestly, anxiously seeking salva- 
tion by faith and prayer. He that 



asks receives; he that seeks finds; he 
that knocks (by faith) at the door of 
mercy it shall be opened to him. 
Christ never has, nor never will cast 
out a poor penitent soul that comes to 
him ; therefore put your trust in him. 
You have begun well, be determined 
to end well. You have put your 
hand to the plough, never look back 
to the world again : be determined to 
save your soul, and get to heaven. 
Let others do as they will, be thou 
on the Lord's side. Amen.f 

The water of life. The salvation 
which I have purchased with my 
own blood. I gave my life a ransom 
for you, poor sinner; shall I die, then, 
in vain. The Rabbins call the preach- 
ing of the prophets the water of life ; 



* I shall now substitute a new heaven and a new earth, in the room of the old heaven 
and the old earth. Our blessed Savior laid the foundation of the new creation himself, 
when on earth ; but after his death he committed the care of the whole building to his 
twelve apostles; but it was not actually completed until after the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem by Titus ; it was then, and only then, that the kingdoms of this world had become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So that as soon as the old city vanished away, 
the new Jerusalem immediately appeared in its stead. The workmen were employed, 
and part of the materials prepared for the building; but the new city could not be com- 
pleted until the old was pulled down. The building itself, and every thing pertaining to 
it, is described at large from the 11th to the 27th verses of this chapter. 

f We see from this, that our Savior does not squander his grace on every kind of per- 
sons. None can drink of the water of life but those who feel that they cannot live with- 
out it. They must pant after it, the same as the hart after the cooling water brook. See 
Ps. 42 : 1. The Lord giveth grace liberally to all who ask for it in a proper manner ; and 
he upbraideth none who are sincere, whose only object, desire, and aim is, to glorify him 
in their soul, body, and spirit, which are his ; but we must ask, if we expect to receive ; 
seek, if we wish to find ; knock at the door of mercy, if we expect it to be opened unto 
us. 



REVELATION. 



297 



7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I 
will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, 
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and 



the Savior compares his salvation to 
a river of water springing up into ev- 
erlasting life. No person can form an 
idea of the great joy which a weary 
traveller feels in the burning sands of 
the desert of Arabia when he comes 
to a well of living water. Nothing 
is so cooling and refreshing as a bot- 
tle of this ; it is of more value to 
the thirsty man than silver or gold ; 
these may satisfy the eye but can 
never sustain either body or soul ; the 
salvation of Christ is like "the living 
stream, full and free, enough for all, 
for each, and for ever more."* 

7 He that overcometh. The present 
difficulties, afflictions and persecu- 
tions, as well as the world, the flesh, 
and the devil. 

Shall inherit all things. He has 
the promise of the life that now is, 
and of that which is to come : all things 
are yours, whether Paul, or Apol- 
los, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or 



death, or things present, or things to 
come, all are yours, and ye are 
Christ's. Thanks be to our God for 
this. 

I shall he his God. A Father and 
a friend that will stick closer than a 
brother. A pure, disinterested friend, 
who is not carried about with every 
wind of doctrine. 

And he shall he my son. My heir 
to the spiritual inheritance. As a son 
he shall fear, reverence, serve and 
obey me, walk in my commandments 
and ordinances blameless. As a fa- 
ther, I shall feed and clothe him, 
teach and instruct him, protect and 
preserve him unto eternal life. 

8 But the fearful. The coward, 
traitor, backslider in heart and life. 
He who like Judas, has sold his mas- 
ter, perhaps, for a little wealth, or a 
trifle of worldly enjoyment. 

Unbelieving. In his divinity, doc- 
trines, miracles, death, sufferings, 



* The salvation of God is called the water of Jife, because it springs from the eter- 
nal fountain, which never can run dry. This water is like the boundless ocean, free 
for all ; the rich cannot purchase it with money, and the poor may have it without money 
and without price. There is a general invitation given to all who wish to come and par- 
take of it. The prophet Isaiah cries out, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and 
milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is 
not bread ? and your labor for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, 
saith the Lord, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." 
See chap. 55 : 1,2. 

38 



298 



NOTES ON THE 



idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake 
which burnetii with fire and brimstone ; which is the 
second death. 



atonement for sin, resurrection of his 
identical body, intercession with the 
Father, and his final coming to judge 
both the quick and the dead at the 
last day. 

Abominable. Filthy, polluted, dis- 
eased by dissipation, unholy, profane, 
haters of fathers, and haters of mo- 
thers ; without natural affection, im- 
placable, unmerciful, _ haters of God 
and of all good men. Atheists, deists, 
infidels, scoffers, &c. Fit fuel for the 
eternal burning. 

1st Class. 

Murderers. 1. He that kills a 
man intentionally, is a murderer. 2. 
He that swears away life falsely, is 
such. 3. He that will kill if he can 
do it, whether in a duel or not, is a 
murderer in his heart, and will be 
punished by the Judge of all the earth 
for the intention, the same as for 
the act itself. 4. He that instigates 
directly or indirectly to murder, be- 
longs to this class. 5. He that with- 
holds that which will save life, takes 
away life, and will be condemned as a 
murderer in the day of eternity. 6. He 
that destroys life by the improper use 
of medicines, or improper practice in 
the medical profession comes under 
this head. 7. He that takes poison, 
or administers it to another to take 
life, is a murderer. 8. He that insti- 
gates to war and bloodshed, treason, 
arson, or insurrection, is such. 9. He 
that is the cause, directly or indirect- 
ly, of the death of his infant, is a mur- 



derer. 10. She that takes decoctions 
to produce abortion, is equally such. 
11. He or she that administers the 
dose to produce such is equally as 
guilty in the sight of God. 12. He 
that by bribery, influence, or corrup- 
tion, screens the murderer from pun- 
ishment, is a murderer in the eye of 
God. 

2d Class. 

1. He that destroys his constitution 
by eating too much, or drinking too 
much, by drunkenness, gluttony, and 
debauchery, is a self-murderer. 2. 
He or she that brings on disease, by 
dancing, frolicing and dissipation, is 
equally such. 3. He that brings on 
premature death by dint of hard study 
or too close application to business in 
order to be rich and popular, comes 
under this head. 

3d Class. 

He that hateth his brother, (in 
Christ,) whether minister or member, 
young, or old, rich or poor, bond or 
free, black or white, is a murderer in 
his heart. For he that hates a man 
would kill him if he could do it ; and, 
malice aforethought is what consti- 
tutes murder in the first degree, in 
the eye of the law. 

Whoremongers. Adulterers, forni- 
cators, seducers and the seduced. 
Spiritually, lovers of pleasure, the 
world, flesh, devil, more than of God, 
are such. 

Sorcerers. False prophets, false 
teacher.?, deceivers, fortune-tellers, se- 



REVELATION. 



299 



ducers from the simplicity of tlie gos- 
pel ; men who preach for gain, and not 
for souls : the original meaning of the 
word is to deceive, disguise the truth, 
play the hypocrite, or act under false 
pretences ; a man who pretends to be 
called to the ministry by the Holy 
Spirit when he is sure he is not, and 
whose only object is money, comes 
under this head, and is a spiritual 
sorcerer. 

Idolaters. Those who love and 
serve any thing more than God, such 
as money, the world, the flesh and the 
devil, the ball room, playhouse, circus, 
horse race, wine bottle, card table; as 
well as those who worship, adore, 
and reverence graven images, or the 
host of heaven. 

All liars. Deceivers, false teachers, 
slanderers; those who frame a lie and 
those who circulate it; those who shun 
to declare the truth, and those who de- 
ny it ; those who pervert the truth and 
turn aside the stranger from his right, 
as well as false swearers, and those 
who promise, but never intend to ful- 
fil, all come under this head. 

Shall have their part. Portion, in- 
heritance, future and eternal place of 
abode. They made choice of it in this 
life, and it would be unjust in the 
Deity to exclude them from it in the 
life to come. Their portion will be 
divided to thern according to their 
works ; each class will have a sepa- 
rate and distinct place of residence in 
hell, according to their various charac- 
ters and dispositions : men of like pas- 
sions and pursuits will prob'ably be 
put together, and be punished alike ; 
and companions in wickedness will 
be companions in punishment. There 
will then be a final and eternal sepa- 
ration between husband and wife, 
child and parent, minister and mem- 



ber, master and servant, prince and 
people ; and to increase their misery, 
their Deliah or idol, on which they set 
their affections, will be placed before 
their view, and they will curse the day 
they ever saw it and were led astray 
by it. The wine bottle and alehouse 
will probably be before the eye of the 
drunkard ; the card table and dice 
before the gambler ; silver and gold 
before the miser and covetous man. 
See Luke, 16 : 25 ; luxury before the 
voluptuous ; pomp and splendor be- 
fore the proud and haughty ; the pa- 
lace, and beautiful lakes and lawns 
before the prince ; the hounds and 
hunt before the sportsman ; the god- 
dess of Reason before the infidels of 
France ; the guillotine before Robes- 
pierre and Marat ; and the Age of 
Reason before Payne and all his deis- 
tical companions. The fields of Wa- 
terloo and of Leipsic, the groans of 
the wounded and dying, will be con- 
stantly sounding in the ears of the 
Allied Powers of Europe ; the burn- 
ing of Moscow by Napoleon, and of 
Rome by Nero, and the vast multi- 
tudes of men and women who perish- 
ed in the flames, will never be for- 
gotten by these misguided and ambi- 
tious despots. The flames of Smith- 
field, and massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew, will fall heavily on the pates 
of the popes of Rome. The assassin 
will be haunted night and day in hell 
by the ghost of his murdered vic- 
tim, who will exclaim " you have 
been the cause of my ruin and dam- 
nation !" 

As heaven refines, purifies, and 
improves the taste and disposition of 
the righteous, so hell, on the contrary, 
vitiates the taste of the wicked, and 
makes them -more vile and vicious 
than before, and disqualifies them 



300 



NOTES ON THE 



9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels, 
which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, 
v and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show 
thee the bride, the Lambs wife. 



more and more every day for the so- 
ciety of the blessed ; and as they 
were monomaniacs through life, they 
will remain so through eternity, curs- 
ing God and the Lamb for ever and 
ever. 

In the lake that burnetii with fire 
and brimstone. That is, the liquid 
lake of fire and brimstone, which is 
constantly sending forth columns of 
smoke and flames of liquid fire. 1. 
Then hell is called here a lake of fire 
and brimstone. 2. In it there is weep- 
ing and wailing, and gnashing of 
teeth. Matt. 8:12. 3. The smoke 
of their torment ascendeth up for ever 
and ever. Rev. 20 : 10. 4. They 
have no rest day nor night that wor- 
ship the beast and his image. Rev. 
14 : 11. 5. Their worm dieth not, 
and their fire is not quenched. Mark, 
9 : 43, 44. 6. They are reserved in 
the chains of blackness and darkness 
for ever. Jude, 13. 7. They are (now) 
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 
Jude, 7. 8. There is no intercourse 
between the righteous and the wick- 
ed. Luke, 16 : 26. 9. The anxiety 
of the wicked is very great indeed in 
behalf of their relatives, lest they 
should come into this place of tor- 
ment. Luke, 16 : 27. 10. They are 
conscious of every thing that trans- 
pires in this life ; verse 28. 11. There 
is not the slightest mitigation of their 
1 punishment ; it is to be perpetual and 
never-ending torments ; verse 24. 12. 



There is no intercourse between the 
living and the dead ; the dead cannot 
be sent here to warn the living of his 
danger. They have the law and the 
gospel, and these are sufficient to ad- 
monish them of their danger, and if 
they do not believe them, neither 
would they believe though one rose 
from the dead ; verse 31. 13. Final- 
ly, if there be no hell, there can be 
no heaven, for we have the same evi- 
dence precisely of the one, in the 
Bible, that we have of the other, for 
one is as clearly proved as the other ; 
and if there be no devil, there is no 
God, for the one is as clearly and dis- 
tinctly identified as the other — that 
is, in the Scriptures of truth. 

You may now be ready to conclude 
that I have painted my picture in too 
high colors. You are mistaken, my 
friend; I have not touched it with 
either my paint or pencil : you have 
it from the pure fountain of divine 
truth, just as God sent it, plain, sim- 
ple, and unadorned. 

I have this day set before you life 
and death, heaven and hell, a bless- 
ing and a curse ; therefore, in the 
name of God, choose life, that ye may 
live for ever. Amen, and Amen. 

9 One of the seven angels. That is, 
Ezekiel ; chap. 16 : 1, and 40 : 2, 3, 4. 

The bride. The new church, the 
heavenly Jerusalem. Christ is now 
going to be united to her in holy and 
spiritual wedlock. He first espoused 



REVELATION. 



301 



10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great 
and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the 
holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 



lier ; he so loved the world as to give 
his life a ransom for all, to be testified 
in due time. She promised on her 
part in the marriage covenant, " to 
renounce the devil and all his works, 
the pomps and vanities of this wick- 
ed world, and all the sinful lusts of 
the flesh, to live a new life, and have 
a lively faith in his mercy^and pro- 
mises." 

10 Carried me away in the Spirit. 
Rabbinical, for "he gave me new and 
exalted views of the spiritual Jerusa- 
lem." See Ezek. 43:5* 



The great city. That is, in length, 
and breadth, in depth and height. It 
extends into Asia, Africa, Europe, and 
America. It is as high as heaven, as 
deep as the ocean, as broad and wide 
as the whole universe. The people are 
like the stars of heaven, without num- 
ber. It is the city of the Great King 
Messiah. The temple, the tabernacle, 
the sacrifices, laws, and ordinances are 
all great and glorious. The old city 
was great in a particular sense, but 
the new and heavenly city is great in 
a general sense. f 



* This is a figurative mode of expression, to show that he had surmounted great diffi- 
culties, and at length got on the mountain top, where he could behold every thing belong- 
ing to the heavenly Jerusalem. 

t 1. It is great in length, and breadth, in depth, and height ; it extends from east to 
west, from north to south ; its height is above the fixed stars, and its foundation no man 
knows. See 1 Cor. 3 : 11. 2. It is great in power and glory; it is fair as the moon, 
clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. See Canti. 6 : 10. 3. It is great 
in strength and stability. The wall of this city has often been attacked by atheists, deists, 
and infidels ; but it never has fallen as yet, nor even one stone been moved out of its 
place. See verse 12. And as for the city itself, it has been besieged by all the world, 
and yet they never have conquered it, nor starved it into a surrender ! Glory to God ! 
He that is for us is more than all that are against us. He that spared not his own Son, 
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not, with him, freely give us all things ? 
And as for the beauty and excellence of this city, it exceeds all that ever has been seen in 
the world ; its wall is great and high, and hath twelve foundations and twelve golden 
gates ; three of the gates opened to the north, and three to the south, and three to the 
east, and three to the west. The city itself lieth four square, and the building of the wall 
of it is of jasper, and the city is made of pure gold, and even the very streets paved with 
pure gold, and the foundations of the walls of the city are garnished with all manner of 
precious stones. A river runs through the midst of the city, which proceeds from the 
boundless ocean and waters the whole world, it keeps all the cisterns of the city continu- 
ally full, and conveys a vast quantity of water to every believing family, through pipes 



302 



NOTES ON THE 



11 Having the glory of God : and her light was like 
unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper-stone, clear 
as crystal ; 

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve 



The holy Jerusalem. In reality, 
not in name, like the old city ; it is 
pure, perfect, upright, holy. 

Descending from heaven. The old 
city originated on earth ; this, in hea- 
ven, in the bosom of Jesus; all its 
members are true believers, born from 
above, and not from beneath, are not 
natural, but spiritual members; not 
birth, but new birth members, and they 
know the very time, when, and place 
where God converted them. They 
have the faith that brings assuranc of 
pardon. Reader, hast thou experienc- 
ed a change of heart ? if not, thou must 



be born again, become a new creature 
in Christ Jesus, or perish for ever. 

11 Having the glory of God. The 
glory departed from Israel, and it now 
rested on the true Church of God. 
May it never depart from her ; it 
never shall till she departs from God. 
He never will dwell with a people of 
unclean lips, or impure life, or that 
wink at evil, or throws the mantle of 
charity over it. 

Her light as clear as crystal. 
Clear as the sun, fair as the moon, 
terrible as an army with banners. 

12 A wall.* Of salvation, great 



under ground ; and they are sure to have a fresh supply daily, unless some of the pipes 
burst, or else become stopped with mire and dirt. The water is clear, pure, and whole- 
some; it washes white as snow, and this without any ingredient. And in the midst of 
the street of it, and on every side of the river is there the tree of life, which bears twelve 
manner of fruits, and yields her frait every month; and the leaves of this tree are for the 
healing of all disorders : it heals the sick, cleanses the lepers, raises the dead to life, 
causes the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dumb to speak, and the lame man to leap as 
a hart. This is the city of the great King, and none but the redeemed, of the Lord shall 
be allowed to dwell there; and none but those have power to walk through the golden 
streets of this holy city : this is the King's highway of holiness, and a way the vulture's 
eye never saw, nor the lion's whelp ever trod : the unclean shall not pass over it, for it 
is for the pure in heart, and way-faring men, though fools, (in the eyes of the world,) shall 
not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast, shall go up thereon, it shall 
not be found there : but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord 
shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall 
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. See Isa. 35: 8, 9, 10. 

* There is a beautiful analogy between the new Jerusalem and the old in the remain- 
ing part of this chapter and the beginning of the next, so that every thing belonging to 
the old city and temple was only a type of Christ and his church. The old city was for- 
tified with three walls on such parts as were not encompassed with impassable valleys, 



REVELATION. 



303 



gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written 
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the 
children of Israel. 



and high ; a strong tower whereunto 
the righteous may resort continually. 
See Is. 26:1; 60: 18; Ps. 14: 1. 
The wall surrounds the whole city, 
and is of equal magnitude with it. 
v. 10 : 4. 

Twelve gates. The twelve apos- 
tles : these were the doors by which 
the people entered into the Holy City. 
There were three for the north, three 
for the south, three for the east, and 
three for the west. The Savior 
designed that every quarter of the 
globe should be fairly and impartially 
represented, viz. by his twelve am- 
bassadors, and through them the 



whole world was to be converted. 
They were appointed by Christ to 
admit proper persons into his church, 
and to exclude improper persons from 
it. See chap. 22 : 15.* 

Having the names of the twelve 
tribes of the children of Israel 'written 
thereon. They were engraven on the 
very tables of their hearts, and the 
people were their epistle, known and 
read of all men. Each member knew 
which of the apostles were the ho- 
nored instrument, in the hand of God 
of his conversion. Three thousand 
were converted under the preaching 
of Peter in one day, and perhaps 



for in such places it had but one wall : so that there was but one entire wall that encom- 
passed the city. And so it is with the new city : Christ himself is the only Savior of his 
people ; he encompasses them from east to west, from north to south ; he is round about 
them as a wall of fire, and the glory in the midst of them. But this wall that encom- 
passed the city of Jerusalem was the oldest and strongest of the three ; and so it is with 
our Savior, he is eternal in duration, before all things, and by him all things consist: he 
came out from God, with whom he had glory before the world began ; and he has all 
power in heaven and in earth, so that he can protect his church from external injuries in 
this life, and save them in the life to come. And as for the height of it, its top reaches 
to heaven, and its foundation is deeper than the sea ; its length is described above, and 
as for the breadth of it, it is such that if all the artillery of hell was to play on it, and all 
the deists upon earth to batter it with their greatest battering rams, they cannot destroy 
it, nor even move one stone out of its place. 

* This has reference to the power and authority that our Savior had given to the 
twelve Apostles, to admit proper persons into the church, and to shut out improper per- 
sons from the church ; and he has promised to be with his ministers in this respect even 
unto the end of the world. See^ Matt. 23: 20. The wall of the temple of Jerusalem 
had twelve gates for the twelve tribes of the children of Israel to pass through into the 
temple ; and Ezekiel, in his beautiful description of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, 
represents it as having twelve gates also. See Isa. 60 : 11. 



304 



NOTES ON THE 



13 On the east, three gates ; on the north, three gates ; 
on the south, three gates ; and on the west, three gates. 

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, 
and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the 
Lamb. 



fifty thousand more during his life, 
and this fifty thousand might have 
converted three hundred thousand. 

The standard of Judah, Issachar 
and Zabulon, were at the east gate of 
the temple ; the standard of Ephraim, 
Manassah and Benjamin, at the west 
gate ; Eeuben, Simeon and Gad, at 
the South gatey Dan, Asher and 
Naphtali, at the north gate, with their 
names written on their standards. 

At the gates twelve angels. Minis- 
ters of justice, spiritual magistrates, 
viz. the twelve apostles. They are 
here represented as sentinels standing 
at the gates of the temple, the same 
as the Levites in the old city.* 



13. On the east three gates. tD'l)?. 
ke-dem, Arabia, India, China, Job", 
1:3; Matt. 2: 1. See Ez. 44:11. 

On the west three gates, ft* 1 
yam, the Mediterranean Sea, and 
Spain beyond it. 

On the north three gates. 'p&S 
zaphon, the remote cold region, be- 
cause, at a distance from the sun, and 
means Rome, Italy, Britain. 

On the south three gates. Efts 
coosh, Ethiopia or Africa ; and &^;?>3 
mitz ra yaim, Egypt. Gen. 12 : 9 ; 
13 : 14.f 

14. Twelve foundations. That is, 
the doctrines of Christianity which 



* This is craly comparatively speaking, to show that the Apostles were accountable to 
God for the manner in which they exercised their power : if an unholy person or uncir- 
cumcised in heart entered into the holy temple of the Lord, or was admitted into the 
office of the ministry, it must be through them, and they were accountable to God for it. 
It is his will that no improper person should be admitted either into the church or into 
the office of the' ministry. See verse 27. The priests under the law were stationed at 
the gates of the temple, for the purpose of preserving it from being defiled by aliens. See 
Ezek. 44 : 9, 11. And it was death by their law for any foreigner to enter into their 
temple; so that if any of the px-iests or Levites admitted an unholy person into the tem- 
ple, they were as liable to be put to death as the person himself. 

t It was through the instrumentality and the preaching of the twelve Apostles that 
the hundred and forty and four thousand were admitted through the golden gates into the 
holy temple ; so that every member could tell what minister was the means of his or 
her conversion. St. John, in different parts of this book, makes use of the expression 
written, but it is generally in a figurative sense ; and the reader must perceive that he 
means no more than this, that it was visible or plain to the understanding that the thing 
was so. See chap. 14:1. 



REVELATION. 305 

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to 
measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall 
thereof. 



were planted by the twelve apostles 
in every part of the world. They 
laid the foundation, let others take 
heed how they build thereon ; if any 
man build on this, wood, hay or 
stubble, false doctrines or false hopes, 
himself and his works shall be burned 
up with fire. We see there is no 
preference given here to one apostle 
over another. Peter laid the foun- 
dation of Christianity in Judea, and 
Paul in Rome, Italy and Europe, 



Britain, Spain, England, Ireland, 
Scotland and France. Peter's com- 
mission was to the Jews, Paul's to the 
Gentiles. Therefore Peter never 
was in Rome.* 

15 He that talked with me. The 
prophet Ezekiel, chap. 40 : 3. 

The golden reed. Precious faith, 
more precious than gold tried in the 
fire. 

To measure the city. To examine 
the church by faith and prayer, and 



On the east three gates. One for Joseph, one for Benjamin, and one for Zebulon. 

And on the north three gates. One for Judah, one for Reuben and one for Gad. 

And on the south three gates. One for Simeon, one for Levi, and one for Issachar. 

And on the west three gates. One for Asher, one for Naphthalem, and one for Manas- 
ses. See chap. 7:5. I have before remarked that there was in Solomon's temple a 
molten sea, and that it was borne up by twelve oxen, their hinder parts were inward, and 
their faces outward ; three of them were looking toward the north, and three toward the 
south, and three toward the east, and three toward the west ; the twelve oxen represented 
the twelve Apostles : and three of them looking toward the north, and three toward the 
south, &c. denoted that the twelve Apostles should be divided into four classes, and that 
three of them should carry the gospel into the north, and three into the south, and three 
into the east, and three into the west : so that the heavenly Jerusalem had three golden 
gates in every quarter of the globe. And twelve angels stood at these gates to admit 
proper persons into the city, and to keep improper persons out of it. See Gal. 2 : 9. 

They were the wise master-builders, who had planted these doctrines in every nation 
under heaven. See 1 Cor. 3 : 6, 10, and Eph. 2 : 20. Before the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem the gospel had been preached in all the world by the twelve apostles. See Col. 1 : 
23. It was not only preached in Lesser Asia, Greece, and Italy, but it was likewise pro- 
pagated as far north as Scythia, and as far south as Ethiopia, and as far east as Parthia 
and India, and as far west as Spain and Britain. 

* That is, the city and gates. See verse 12. He was to try how far the new ministers 
extended their authority, and to find out whether they used it to the edification or to the 
destruction of the church. 

39 



306 



NOTES ON THE 



16 And the city lieth four-square, and the length is as 
large as the breadth : and he measured the city with the 
reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length, and the 
breadth, and the height of it, are equal. 

17 And he measured the w r all thereof, an hundred and 
forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, 
that is, of the angel. 



see that all the ministers and mem- 
bers were holy, and fit to enter the 
kingdom of heaven. 

16 The city lieth four square. Ex- 
tends into every quarter of the uni- 
verse. The world shall now be filled 
with the glory of God. Knowledge 
shall cover the earth, the same as 
the waters cover the sea, and all shall 
know the Lord, from the least to the 
greatest. The heathen shall now be 
given to Christ for his inheritance, 



and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for his possession, and his church 
extend from the rivers to the ends of 
the earth. Shall be general and not 
particular, like the Jewish church.* 

Twelve thousand furlongs. A cer- 
tain for an uncertain number. It 
may mean, however, twelve thou- 
sand miles, that is, in circumfe- 
rence, f 

The wall thereof. It is only by 
faiths we can form any correct idea 



* And the city lieth four square. This was exactly the shape of the Jewish temple. 
Take the words of Josephus here : he says, that it was written in their sacred oracles, 
that when their temple should become four square, that then their city and temple should 
be taken. See War, book 6, 5, 4. And from this we may learn that their temple was 
the shadow, and the church of Christ, the temple of the living God, the substance. 

t That is, about 1500 miles ; but this was not the measure of the city in circum- 
ference, but the measure of it on each of the four sides. Jerusalem was but thirty-three 
furlongs in circumference ; but the Jews themselves were scattered all over the habitable 
earth ; and as their law forbid sacrifices to be offered in any other place but in the tem- 
ple, and the yearly passover to be celebrated in no other place but Jerusalem, they had 
to assemble together to this city yearly for this purpose. But after the old city was de- 
stroyed, and the new Jerusalem built on the ruins thereof, the true temple of God was not 
confined to one particular place or city, but it extended into every part of the world ; so 
that spiritual sacrifices may now be offered up to God in every city, village, and house, 
throughout the world, and the true followers of the Lamb may feast on Christ, their 
spiritual passover, in their closet as well as in the church. 

4 By the eye of faith, through the medium of the gospel glass. If a person without 
the assistance of a telescope can see a planet at nine hundred millions of miles distance, 
how much farther can an enlightened minister of Christ see through the naked eye of 



REVELATION. 



307 



18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: 
and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were 
garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first 
foundation was jasper ; the second, sapphire ; the third, a 
chalcedony ; the fourth, an emerald ; 



of the plan of salvation, of its length 
and breadth, its depth and height, 
See Ezek. 42 : 16, 20. 

18. The wall was jasper. Like 
jasper, pure, white, perfect, com- 
plete. Purity and justice were writ- 
ten on the very gates of it. 

Like pure gold. Refined gold, 
brilliant, glorious, precious, valuable. 

The city was pure gold. Like 
unto pure gold, rich, valuable, glori- 
ous, desirable to the believing soul; 
his heart and treasure is there, . 
his abiding home while sojourning 
here. 

19 The foundations. See verse 
14.* 



Were garnished with all manner 
of precious stones. That is, precious 
believers, who are built up a spiritual 
house, a holy temple, unto the Lord. 
The apostles were adorned, embel- 
lished with these ; they were stars 
in their crown of rejoicing. The 
foundation of the temple in Jerusa- 
lem was adorned with the different 
kinds of stones described below. See 
2 Chron. 3:6; Isa. 54 : 11 ; Lam. 
4 : 20. 

Jasper. A stone of a beautiful 
white color, an emblem of purity. 

Sapphire. This is of a sky-blue 
color, speckled with gold, an emblem 
of a precious, valuable believer. 



faith ; and if an astronomer, through the assistance of a telescope, can see some millions 
of miles farther than with the naked eye, how much greater distance can a minister of the 
blessed Jesus see, when he has the gospel telescope to the eye of his faith; certainly he 
must be able to comprehend in some good degree the length, and breadth, depth and 
height, of the wall of salvation. 

* That is, spiritually such ; it was as pure and as precious as the most fine gold. The 
citizens themselves were the city, or the temple of God ; the Jewish temple was covered 
over with large plates of gold of great weight, and at the first rising of the sun it re- 
flected back a very fiery splendor, and it made those who looked upon it to turn awav 
their eyes the same as from the rays of the sun ; but as to those parts of it that were not 
covered with gold, they were exceedingly white, 60 that a stranger at a distance from it 
would take it to be a mountain of snow. See Josephus, War, book 5, 5, 6. This tem- 
ple was an emblem of the temple of the living God ; but the latter far exceeds the for- 
mer, for it is not gold in part, but in whole ; it is gold outwardly and inwardly, and it has 
no need of the light of the sun nor the light, of the moon to shine upon it by night and by 
day, for the glory of God is the light of it. 



308 



NOTES ON THE 



20 The fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, 
chrysolite ; the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, a topaz ; the 
tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, a jacinth ; the 
twelfth, an amethyst. 

21 And the twelve gates ivere twelve pearls ; every 



Chalcedony. Is of the color of fire, 
an emblem of flaming zeal. 

Emerald. This is a beautiful grass- 
green color, an emblem of spiritual 
prosperity, a growth in grace, and in 
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

20 Sardonyx. Of a blood-red 
color, like the Sardius, mixed with 
pure white, an emblem of him who 
had washed his robes, and made 
them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Chrysolite. Called the golden stone, 
because it resembles gold, an emblem 
of a pure and precious believer. Ps. 
68: 13. 

Beryl. Of a bright, bluish green 



color, like the blossom of the flax, 
an emblem of love and humility. 

A topaz. Of a pale yellow color, 
an emblem of old age, purity and 
piety. 

A chrysoprasus. Of a beautiful 
green color, speckled with gold, an 
emblem of piety, purity and benevo- 
lence. 

A jacinth. Of red purple color, 
like the amethyst, an emblem of 
power and princely dominion. See 
Chap. 1 : 6. 

21 Twelve pearls. The twelve 
apostles. The church wa3 embel- 
lished and beautified with these.* 

And the street of the city. The 



* They were more valuable than the most precious stones which the world could pro- 
duce. The great Mogul had a topaz in his possession of an immense value, its weight 
was about 137 carats, £200,300 sterling. And Josephus observes that the twelve stones 
which the high priest wore on his garments were of such an immense value that they 
could not be purchased by man. See Antiq. book 3, 7, 4. That St. John meant by the 
twelve precious stones the twelve apostles, is evident, for the twelve stones described 
below are the same as the high priest wore on his garment ; and upon every one of these 
stones was engraven the name of one of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and 
these being placed upon his garment, he felt the weight of the whole nation resting upon 
him every time he ministered in holy things, see Exod. 28 : 30 ; and so it is with Jesus, 
our glorious high priest and king, he is clothed with the garment of salvation, and the 
twelve apostles were united to him by faith : and one of the names of the twelve tribes 
of the spiritual Israel of God was engraven upon every one of these apostles' hearts ; so 
that our blessed Savior had to bear the weight of these twelve stones on his own body, as 
well as the burden of the whole church, when he entered into the holiest of holies to 
make intercession for us with God. 



REVELATION, 



309 



several gate was of one pearl ; and the street of the city 
teas pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 

22 And I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God 
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, 
and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall 
walk in the light of it : and the kings of the earth do 
bring their glory and honor into it. 



King's highway of holiness, the nar- 
row and straight way, which leads to 
life. The one way, the only way, 
by which we can enter into life. See 
Luke, 1:6; Isa. 35 : 8. 

Pure gold. More precious than 
the gold that perisheth.* 

22 No temple. That is, literal one; 
but it has a spiritual and glorious 
temple. The Lord God and the 
Lamb are the temple of it. 

23 It has no need of the sun, Sfc. 
It shines beautifully and gloriously 
without it, for the Lord God is the 
light and glory of it. 



24 The nations that are saved. 
From sin, its pollutions and corrup- 
tions. That is, the Gentiles who 
embraced Christianity. 

Shall walk in the light of it. By 
faith and not by sight. They shall 
willingly walk in all his command- 
ments and ordinances ' blameless. — 
(That is, after their conversion to 
Christianity.) Touch not, taste not, 
handle not the unclean thing. Hence 
the new Jerusalem will be a lamp to 
enlighten the whole world, and the 
nations shall walk in the light of it. 
Yalkot Simeoni, fol. 56, 3.f 



* They were as precious, and of as much value in the eyes of a believer, as the most 
precious and costly diamond would be in the eye of a jeweller. Our Savior compares 
the grace of God to a pearl of great price, which, when a man hath found, he went and 
sold all that he had and bought it : see Matt. 13 : 46, and Acts, 4 : 34. And St. Paul 
counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. 
See Phil. 3:8, and Prov. 20 : 15. 

f The commandments and ordinances of the Lord are all pure, making wise the sim- 
ple and strengthening the weak. They are not grievous but joyous to the believer. He 
delights in the law of the Lord, and therein doth he meditate day and night. If God 
required us to keep all his commandments, and to walk in all his ordinances blameless, 
when at the same time it is impossible to do so, then might he not be called a hard 
master, reaping where he hath not sown ? 



310 



NOTES ON THE 



25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day : 
for there shall be no night thjre. 

26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the 
nations into it. 

27 And there shall m no wise enter into it any thing 



And the kings of the earth. The 
rich men, princes, rulers and govern- 
ors.* 

Shall bring their glory and honor 
into it. Shall lavish their wealth 
more freely on it, than on the old 
city. Shall fear, reverence, obey 
and serve the church of the living 
God, the pillar and groundwork of the 
truth. They shall cast their idols to 
the moles and the bats ; follow Christ 
in the regeneration, that when he 
shall appear, they also may appear 
with him in glory, f 

25 Its gates shall not be shut by 
day. They shall be open night and 
day for ever. God shall always have 
a spiritual church and ministry on 
earth till time shall be no more ; 
and there shall be no night of spi- 
ritual darkness there, but they shall 



be all light and glory in the Lord. 
The divine Shekina shall be the 
light and glory of it for ever and for 
ever. Amen. 

26 And they shall bring the glory 
and honor of the nations into it. 
Kings shall be their nursing fathers, 
and queens their nursing mothers, 
and the people shall all follow their 
example, be righteous, and support 
the pure, perfect, and holy religion 
of the blessed Savior. 

27 There shall not enter into it. 
According to God's command, as 
ministers or members, knowingly or 
willingly. See Ezek. 44 : 8, 9; Isa. 
35 : 9v 

Any thing that defileth. A dead 
sinner, or he who is dead in tres- 
passes and in sins : he would defile 
the whole body. Not one of them, 



* Formerly they lavished their wealth on the old city of Jerusalem. See chap. 17: 
18 ; but now they do it on the new city, and this for the relief of the poor and the spread 
of the gospel. This was literally fulfilled in the reign of Cod stantine, if not before, 
and every person who reads this must easily perceive that the New Jerusalem had 
reference to the church of Christ ; for how could it be said that the kings of the earth 
do bring their glory and honor into heaven itself? 

f The ministers of the gospel shall bring the donations of the brethren into it, and 
this from all parts of the world. See 1 Cor. 16:2,3, and 2 Cor. 8:4; also Isa. 60 : 9. 
There were a great many treasury chambers in the Jewish temple, in which were de- 
posited an immense quantity of money, and a vast number of garments, and many other 
precious things. It was in those chambers that the tythes and offerings of the children 
of Israel were deposited, part of which were to be applied to the use of the poor, and 
the remainder to defray the expenses of the city and nation. See 2 Chron. 31 : 10, 11 ; 
and Josh. 6:19; also Jer. 35:11. 



REVELATION. 



311 



that defileth, neither 'whatsoever worketh abomination, or 
rnaketh a lie ; but they which are written in the Lamb's 
book of life. 



or one of the characters described in, 
verse 8 or in chapter 22 : 15, shall 
enter the church militant, nor the 
church triumphant.* 

But those who are written in the 
Lamb's book of life. Those who 
have their names inserted as genuine 
believers, in the records of eternity, 
or who have found the gospel to be 



the power of God unto salvation ; it 
is these, and these only, that are 
written in the book of life. Reader ! 
for God's sake, for Christ's sake, for 
your soul's sake, do not stop short of 
a knowledge of salvation by^ the 
remission of all your sins ; then, and 
only then, are you in a fit state to 
die.f 



* That is, any person who lives in wilful transgression of the law of God ; he shall 
not be permitted to enter into the holy temple. The angel who stands at the gate shall 
keep him out: but there always have crept into the church unawares wolves dressed in 
sheep's clothing, who come to devour the sheep and lambs of the flock : but as soon as 
the apostles found out such men they cut them off from communion with the church, 
and so ought every minister of Christ. The Jews considered the Gentiles to be dogs or 
filthy persons, and on this account had it in Greek and Roman letters on the pillars of 
the sanctuary, that no foreigner should enter it ; if they did, they considered the holy 
place defiled, and according to their own law had a right to put such a person to death. 
See Josep. War, book 5, 2, 4. How much more so must the temple of the living God be 
defiled if unholy persons be permitted to enter it ? For how can two walk together 
except they agree ? and what fellowship hath light with darkness ? 

f That is, those who are saved from sin, see verse 24. From this we see that no 
unconverted persons ought to be taken into full communion with the church, whether 
moral men or penitent sinners, they should be kept in a probationary state until con- 
verted. The church of Christ means all those who have found redemption in the blood 
of the Lamb, even the forgiveness of their sins, and all others belong to the synagogue 
of Satan. And as the church itself is only the shadow, and heaven the substance, the 
former should resemble the latter, for we know that nothing unholy can enter there. 



312 



NOTES ON THE 



CHAPTER XXII. 



And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear 
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of 
the Lamb. 



1 A pure river of water of life. 
A free and full salvation by faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ. This was to 
cover the earth the same as waters 
cover the sea. It is a great, glori- 
ous, pure and perfect salvation. This 
is the fountain opened in the house 
of David for sin and uncleanness to 
the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The 
law and preaching of the prophets 
are called by the Rabbins the river 
of life, and the water of life. John, 



in allusion to this, calls the gospel 
the river of life, because of its free- 
ness, fulness, purity, and healing 
qualities. It revives, animates and 
invigorates the soul that hungers and 
thirsts after righteousness. Our Lord 
compares his salvation to a well of 
water, springing up into everlasting 
life. John, 4:14.* 

Clear as crystal. Pure, perfect, 
transparent. In it you can see the 
end from the beginning. " A fool, 



* This has reference to the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins, which 
was to cover the earth the same as the waters the great deep, and all nations were to 
know the Lord, from the least even unto the greatest. This refers to the 47th chapter 
and 1st verse of Ezekiel. The prophet here has reference to the spread of the Re- 
deemer's kingdom. He represents the angel who had the measuring line, as measuring 
the depth of the water from its first rise until it became so deep that it could not be 
passed over. First when he measured the water it was only up to the ankles, the second 
time it was up to the knees, but the third time it was up to the loins : when he mea- 
sured it the fourth time it was so deep that it was impassable. Now, if we view this 
as having reference to the spread of the gospel, we see how literally this was fulfilled : 
for in the time of John the Baptist's ministry there were but very few converts, but in 
the time of our Savior's ministry their number greatly increased : after the day of Pen- 
tecost their number still increased more and more : but after the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem the kingdoms of this world became the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So 
that in the time of John the Baptist's ministry the water was only up to the ankles : in 
the time of our Savior's ministry it was risen to the knees : and after the day of Pente- 
cost it was up to the loins : but after the destruction of Jerusalem it became impassable. 
See chap. 7: 9. The prophet observes, in the 9th verse, that every thing that liveth, 



REVELATION. 



313 



though ft wayfaring nian, need not 
err therein." And again : The spi- 
ritual man judgeth all things, yea, the 
deep things of God. 

Proceeding out of the throne of 
God. Issuing forth from under the 
golden altar in the spiritual sanctua- 
ry, viz., in the New and heavenly 
Jerusalem. A living stream literally 
proceeded from under the altar in the 
Jewish temple to wash and cleanse 
the daily sacrifices.* This salvation 
w«s planned in heaven, and propa- 
gated by his apostles on earth. We 
shall quote one text of scripture 
which contains the whole plan of 
■salvation. John 3 : 16. For God 
so loved. In an extraordinary, in- 
comprehensible manner, the world of 
ungodly men and women, rebels 
against his government ; a world of 
both Jews and Gentiles, the natural 
and moral world, including every son 
and daughter of Adam. As to give. 
Freely and not forcibly, voluntary, as 
a sin-offering, his only begotten Son. 
That is, His Isaac, Greek, the Son 
of himself, of the same nature and 
duration with the Father. This is 
the identical meaning attached to it 
.by the Rabbins, and he was put to 



death for asserting this. Luke 22 ; 
71. That whosoever. Jew or Gen- 
tile, barbarian, Scythian, bond or 
free, young or old, rich or poor, 
prince or peasant. Believeth in him. 
Not as a creature, (this is blind unbe- 
lief;) but as the Creator, God over 
all, and blessed for ever ; God mani- 
fest in the flesh, who is able to save 
to the very uttermost all them who 
come unto God by him. " He is 
the true God and eternal life," id 
whom dwelleth all the fullness of the 
Godhead bodily. A Christian does 
not want proof that the Bible is true, 
because he knows it to be such. He 
does not want proof that Payne's 
Age of Reason is false, for he is sure 
it is such. He does not want evi- 
dence thattJnitarianism or Universal- 
ism is true, for he knows them (by ex- 
perience and the Bible) to be untrue. 
" He knows that he has passed from 
death unto life, because he loves the 
brethren." Should not perish. In 
the ocean of perdition, the lake that 
burnetii with fire and brimstone. 
The idea is taken from a sailor who 
had fallen overboard. The alarm is 
given by the man at the helm. The 
captain orders all hands on deck, the 



which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live. And there shall be a very 
great multitude of fish, (converts^ because these waters shall come thither: for they 
shall be healed ; and every thing shall live whjther the river cometh. Here we have a 
beautiful representation of the spread of the gospel, under the emblem of a river. The 
fish spoken of here has reference to men, and the fishermen spoken of in the next verse, to 
■the apostles. This is the very place our Lord alluded to when he told Peter to fear not, 
for from henceforth he should catch men ; i. e. in as great multitudes as he had now 
caught fishes. Luke, 5:10; and Mark, 1 : 17. And this was all literally fulfilled in 
one day, under his preaching. 

* That is, it flowed from the place where he reigned and ruled in his spirtual presence. 
See chap. 21 : 3. The prophet Ezekiel represents the river as proceeding out of the 
naw Jerusalem ; see the above chapter quoted from there, and chap. 4 : 6, 

. 40 



314 



NOTES ON THE 



2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of 
the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve 



ship to be laid to, and a plank got 
ready ; the poor drowning man is 
screaming for help ; the plank is 
thrown out, with a rope attached to 
it ; the man seizes it with a deadly 
grip, and is rescued from a watery 
grave to the joy of all on board. The 
poor sinner is overboard, out of the 
Ark of safety, floating upon the bois- 
terous ocean of time, and the gulf of 
eternal misery beneath him ; the next 
moment may be his last. The cry of 
the penitent sinner is, 

Save me, Jesus, or I yield, I sink ; 
O save me, or I die ! Save me, or I sink 
into hell. 

The captain and crew, minister 
and members, are all on the alert to 
save the perishing sinner ; the plank 
(the Savior) is thrown out ; by faith 
and prayer, and the poor sinner lays 
hold of the only hope set before him y 
and is rescued from perishing in hell. 
And all hands rejoice, the church on 
earth, and the church in heaven. 
Have everlasting life. An eternal 
weight of glory. See chap. 14 : 13. 

2 In the midst of the street of it. 
The King's highway of holiness, the 
narrow and strait way, that leads 
to life. This the vulture's eye ne- 
ver saw, nor the lion's whelp ever 
trod. The ransomed of the Lord 
shall walk in it when they return to 
Zion again. See v. 14. 



And on either side of the river. On 
this side and on that side of it. As 
in Ezekiel, (see below.) That is, in 
time and in eternity, in the church mil- 
itant, and in the church triumphant, 
" wherever two or three are met to- 
gether in the name of Jesus, there is 
he in the midst of them."* St. Jjpm 
alludes here to Ps. 46 : 4 ; "There 
is a river, the streams of which shall 
make glad the city of our God, the 
holy place of the tabernacles of the 
Y^??. el-yon. The unoriginated ones, 
" the three in one," and one in three,, 
viz., the three divine persons, in the 
one nature, ."God the Father, God 
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,' s 
of equal power, wisdom, glory, and 
endless duration, without beginning 
and without end. Pelagar means 
the streams of the river, or heralds of 
salvation to a perishing world, i. e. 
the twelve apostles. They are in 
Prov. 9 : 10, called the tabernacles 
of the holy ones, because the Elo- 
hims were to abide with them for 
ever in the ministry, Matt. 28 : 20. 
These living fountains or streams 
were to make glad the city (church) of 
God, were to be the joy and rejoicing 
of it. In anticipation of this, David 
exclaims, "Elohim, our Savior, has 
gone up to (Zion) with a shout of 
victory, with the sound of the (gos- 
pel) trumpet. For God is king over 



* This may mean the east, west, north, and south sides of the river. It spread itself 
into every part of the world ; or, again, it may more properly mean time and eternity. 



REVELATION, 



315 



Manner 0/"- fruits, and yielded her fruit every month : and 
the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 



all the earth. He reigneth over the 
heathen ; he sitteth on the throne of* 
his holiness," Ps. 47 : 5, 6, 7, 8. 
Again, " Beautiful for situation, is 
mount Zion, the joy of the whole 
earth, the city of the great king, 
(Messiah,) in the sides of the north." 

The tree of life. The Savior, 
who is the life of the whole world, 
literally, and the life of all true be- 
lievers, spiritually. He is the true 
vine, that diffuses life and animation 
through all the various branches of 
the Christian church. It is only by 
faith and prayer we can have access 
to this tree, i. e. union and communion 
with God the Father, and with his 
Son Jesus Christ. This Adam and 
Eve lost in Paradise through unbe- 
lief. 

That bears twelve manner of fruits. 
That sustains and supports twelve 
different branches (ministers) that are 
continually producing or bringing forth 



new fruit, (converts.) He was the 
vine, his twelve apostles the branch- 
es, who had different gifts and graces 
for the work of the ministry. These 
were the Father's of the church, 
who had begotton the hundred and 
forty-four thousand converts, named 
in chap. 7 : 4.* ■ 

And yielded her fruit every month. 
That is, was continually producing 
new fruit. Ezekiel has it, "fruit in 
its season," bringing forth sons and. 
daughters daily to the Lord.f The 
minister who labors faithfully, will 
labor effectually, and see the fruit of 
his labor every Sabbath ; and he who 
has no fruit of his labor, is either 
a dead branch, or has never been, 
united to the living vine by faith. 
And what shall it profit a man, (in 
the ministry) if he should gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul, 
or what shall he give in exchange for 
his soul. St. John refers here to 



* Christ compares himself to a vine, and the twelve apostles to the branches of the 
vine, because they were grafted into him by faith. John, 15 : 5. There was as near a 
union between him and their souls as there is between the branch and the vine ; for 
without him they could do nothing. They derived spiritual sustenance from the tree of 
life, and by it they were able to bear fruit unto perfection. John, 17 : 23. 

t This may allude to Gennesaret, a place in the Holy Land, where our Lord and his 
apostles often resorted. Matt. 14 : 34, 35. It was famous for almost all sorts of fruitful 
trees, but more especially for fig trees, and olive trees, and vines. This place afforded 
figs and grapes for ten months in the year. But yet, after all, it was not as fruitfnl as 
the paradise of God ; for in this garden there were trees of all sorts, pie isant to the eye, 
and good for food : and these trees of the Lord's planting exceeded all others, for they 
bore fruit every month in the year, both winter and summer : so that if one tree left off 
rearing for a little spa-on ? another one was loaded with precious ripe fruit, which was fit 
for present use. 



316 



NOTES OX THE 



3 And there shall be no more curse : but the throne 



Ezek. 47 : 12. Hence, on this side 
and on that side of the river of life, 
shall grow every fruitful tree, (minis- 
ter,) and their leaf (faith)* shall not 
wither, (fail,) nor their fruit be 
destroyed (by persecution.) They 
(apostles) shall continually bring 
forth new fruit, (converts,) because 
of the water of life (gospel of salva- 
tion) which shall issue forth from 
the holy place, (church,) and his (the 
Savior's) fruit shall be for food to 
sustain the people ; and his leaves 
(doctrines) shall be for the restora- 
tion of the soul. See Zech. 14 : 8 ; 
John, 21 : 14 ; 1 Tim. 4 : 16. 

Were for the healing of the nations. 
To restore them to the image and 
likeness of God, which Adam and 
Eve lost in Paradise, but which 
Christ regained by his death and 
sufferings on the cross. Repentance 



brings the poor prodigal back again 
to his Father's house. Faith opens 
the door of mercy. Justification re- 
stores him to his favor ; and sancti- 
fication heals him of all his spiri- 
tual diseases, washes him from the 
filthiness of flesh and spirit, and pre- 
pares him for glory, immortality, and 
eternal life, at God's right hand. 
Hence -?t^. no/ph-she ye- 

shoo-xaiv. He restoreth my soul ; 
reinstates it in the likeness of God. 
Ps. 23 : 2. There were trees in 
Judea whose leaves and bark were 
famous for healing different diseases, 
and were resorted to from every part 
of the country. See Jer. 8 : 22. And 
the doctrines of Christianity, when 
faithfully preached, will heal all our 
spiritual maladies, and restore the 
believing soul to the image of God. 
3 There shall he no more cwsc. 



* Tbs leaves of the tree may have reference to the promises of the gospel. Oh ! how 
precious a medicine are these to the believer, and to all who are earnestly seeking after 
the salvation of their souls ! How precious to know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all 
men, specially of them that believe ; and that he has promised pardon and peace to the 
vilest of the vile ; and he that cometh to him he will in no wise cast out, and that if he 
seek him with all his heart, he shall find him ! These are a medicine to heal all his 
wounds, and a cordial to disperse all his doubts and fears. But when Jesus applies the 
promises to his guilty soul, and says to him " thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven 
thee : go in peace, and sin no more !" Oh ! bow truly happy and joyful be feels! He 
is not afraid to die and go to judgment, because he know3 his peace is made with God. 
and that God is now reconciled to him. And what a consolation to know that God has 
promised to withhold no good thing from those that walk uprightly, and he will never 
leave nor forsake them that trust in him ; and that his grace is sufficient for them in the 
hour of trial and temptation. Surely these are a precious medicine ! Sinner, believe in 
ihe promises of God, for they are yours without money and without priee. Jesus loves 
you and wishes you to reeover of your disease ; and if he does probe the wound to the 
bottom, it if? to pour the oil and the wine of his grace into your wounded heart. 



REVELATION, 



317 



of God and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and his servants 
shall serve him. 

4 And they shall see his face ; and his name shall be 
in their foreheads. 

5 And there shall be no' night there ; and they need 



War, bloodshed, pestilence, famine. 
As was predicted by Moses two 
thousand years since. Deut 28 : 45. 
We shall now have a time of general 
peace and prosperity in the church. 
We, therefore, have nothing to fear, 
for he that is for us is more than all 
that are against us. 

The throne of God and the Lamb 
shall be in it. In the spiritual sanc- 
tuary. They shall rule over the 
church, and rule in the hearts of all 
true believers ; shall take up their 
abode in the temple of the new and 
heavenly Jerusalem. The Jews be- 
lieved their temple could never be 
destroyed by the heathen, because 
God continually resided there ; but 
he took his departure from: it while 
on earth ; and in forty years after 
this it was utterly destroyed, and 
not one stone left upon top of ano- 
ther. But the spiritual temple is to 
last for ever ; is never to be de- 
stroyed. " Lo ! I am with you 
(says Jesus) always, even unto the 
end of the world." Hence, " Justice 
and judgment are the habitation of 
thy throne, O God for ever and 
ever." Amen. 

His servants shall serve him. Like 
the Levites in his holy temple, they 
shall serve God and his people faith- 
fully, zealously, patiently and per- 
severingly, be the servants of all and 
masters of none. They may be 



weary in the work, but not weary of 
the work ; duty with them is not a 
burden, but a delight, they can cheer- 
fully sing : 

" Joyful thus my faith to show, 
" I find his service my reward ; 
" Every work I do below, 
" I do it to the Lord." 

4 They shall see his face. Behold 
his glory beaming forth in his holy 
temple. The divine glory shall shine 
forth from between the mercy-seat 
over the cherubim, and upon the 
whole congregation of the true Israel 
of God. They shall see him daily 
by faith, which is the same to the 
soul as the eye is to the body : the 
one sees things visible, the other 
things invisible ; and when they de- 
part this life, faith shall be swallowed 
up in sight, and they shall see God 
as he is. Amen. 

His name shall be in their fore- 
head. Holiness to the Lord shall be 
visible in their very countenance. 
This alludes to the mitre which the 
high priest wore on his forehead, and 
on which was inscribed Holiness to 
the Lord. One was the shadow, the 
other the substance. 

5 There shall be no night there. 
Spiritual darkness, blindness, igno- 
rance of God and his holy religion. 
For the Lord God shall be the light 
and glory of his people for «ver and 



31S 



XOTES OX THE 



no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God 
oiveth them light : and they shall reign for ever and ever. 

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and 
true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his 
angel to show unto his servants the things which must 
shortly be done. 

7 Behold, I come quickly : blessed is he that keepeth 
the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And 



ever. This may, however, refer to 
the dark and dreadful calamities 
which came on the world a short 
time before the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem. Chapter 16 : 10. 

6 These sayings. These predic- 
tions, doctrines, threatenings and warn- 
ings, are all faithful and true, be- 
cause dictated by the inspiration of 
God, and will be literally and exact- 
ly fulfilled in a few years from this 
time e xcept the predictions which 
refer to the expiration of the 1,000 
years. 

The Lord God of the holy pro- 
phets* He who protected, preserved 
and inspired them to act, think, 
speak and live for him. 

Sent his angel. Messenger, am- 
bassador, to teach John and the 
churches things which must shortly 
come to pass. This angel, no doubt, 
was the prophet Isaiah, for he was 
so great, glorious and majestic, that 
John mistook him for his Lord and 
Master until he was told to the con- 
trary, viz. that he was simply a 
ministering spirit from heaven. 

To show unto his servants. The 



ministers of the seven churches of 
Asia. Blessed title indeed, servants 
of Jesus. Not lords over God's heri- 
tage. 

Shortly be done. Immediately, 
within three years and six months. 
The fields are now white to har- 
vest ; therefore, the reapers will 
soon be sent into Judea to cut it 
down. 

7 Behold I come quickly. To exe- 
cute judgment on all the ungodly, 
and to make my church free and 
independent, a holy, happy, and ho- 
norable people. 

Blessed. Happy, pious, glorious. 

Is he that Jceepeth the sayings and 
prophecies of this book. That not 
only believes in them, but walks 
according to them, because given by 
the inspiration of God. 

8 / saw these things. In the vi- 
sion, revelation, made by the Savior 
through this angel. See chapter 
1 : 1. 

I fell down. Prostrate before 
him, as an act of adoration, because 
I believed him to be my Master ; 
but he soon informed me he was 



REVELATION. 



319 



when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before 
the feet of the angel which showed me these things. 

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not : for I am 
thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and 
of them which keep the sayings of this book : worship 
God. 

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the 
prophecy of this book : for the time is at hand. 

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still : and he 
which is filthy, let him be filthy still : and he that is right- 



but a servant, a guardian angel of 
the church, a brother in the ministry. 
See Dan. 10 : 8, 9. 

9 See thou do t it not. For I am 
neither a pope nor a prince, but a 
mere creature, therefore worship not 
me, but Christ, who is the Creator 
and upholder of all things. God has 
commanded all men everywhere, to 
reverence the Son the same as the 
Father. 

Worship God. Worship Christ, 
the Christian's God, and no other, 
for God hath commanded all the an- 
gels in heaven to worship him. Heb. 
1:6. To adore, reverence, worship 
a creature, the image or likeness of 
any thing in heaven above, or in the 
earth beneath, or the waters under 
the earth, is idolatry, and will ex- 
clude us from the kingdom of heaven. 
See verse 15. 

10 Seal not. Conceal not, keep 
them not hid from the church, as 
they will soon be revealed to the 
world by a literal fulfilment of them. 
You need not cast your pearls before 
swine, lest they should trample them 



under their feet, and turn again and 
tear you in pieces. The publicity of 
them to the world may raise another 
general persecution against you.- — 
Therefore let them be communicated 
to the church privately. 

The time is at hand. Within 
reach, at your very door. The 
signs of the times indicate this. The 
trees are in blossom, therefore the 
summer is at hand. 

11 He that is unjust. Towards 
God, himself, his family, the church, 
and his creditors. 

Let him be unjust still. If Christ 
and his gospel, and his Holy Spirit, 
cannot convert him or them, certainly 
you cannot do it. Therefore, preach 
salvation to them no more ; they 
are given over to a reprobate mind, 
and to a hard heart. 

He that is filthy. Polluted by 
murder, adultery, fornication, drunk- 
enness, dissipation, theft, robbery ; 
also, atheists, deists, infidels, Turks, 
&c. &c. 

Let him be filthy still. Preach 
my gospel to such vile men no more. 



320 



NOTES ON THE 



eous, let him be righteous still : and he that is holy, let 
him be holy still. 

12 And behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is 
with me, to give every man according as his work 
shall be. 

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
end, the first and the last. 

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that 



as they are reprobates concerning the 
faith. 

He that is righteous. Justified by- 
faith in our Lord Jesus. Let him 
hold fast the beginning of his confi- 
dence, firm to the end ; be rooted, 
grounded, established, and built up 
on his most holy faith. 

He thai is holy. Pure in heart 
and in life, sanctified throughout, 
soul, body, and spirit. Let him hold 
fast whereunto he hath attained, that 
no man take his crown. Here then 
are two distinct and different degrees 
of holiness, justification and sanctifi- 
cation. God help us to seek after 
both of them. 

12 My reward is with me. A 
crown of glory is in my right hand, 
for the righteous; a sword of justice 
in my left hand, to punish the wicked, 
my enemies, who would not that 
I should reign over them. 

According as his ivork shall be. 
He that giveth even a cup of water 
to one of my disciples, shall in no 
wise lose his reward. And on the 
other hand, he that injures one of 
these little ones that believe in me, 
it would be better he had a millstone 
tied rouud his neck, and he drowned 



in the depth of the sea. For every 
transgression and disobedience shall 
receive a just recompense of reward. 

13 Alpha and Omega. See chap. 
1 : 11. 

14. Blessed. Happy, prosperous, 
gracious, glorious. 

Are they. All true believers who 
worship God in spirit and in truth, 
and in the beauty of holiness. 

Keep his commandments. The 
king's commandments. Observe them 
all, small and great; not to put a 
part for the whole. Keeping some 
and neglecting others. Tithing mint 
and cummin, and neglecting the 
weightier matters of the law, such 
as justice, judgment and mercy. 1. 
There is a duty we owe to our God, 
to love him with all our heart, soul, 
mind and strength. 2. A duty we owe 
to our neighbor, to love and serve him 
as ourselves, to do by him in all 
things as we should wish him to do to 
us. 3. A duty we owe to our chil- 
dren, to bring them up in the fear, 
nurture, and admonition of the Lord. 
4. A duty we owe to our rulers, to 
render unto Caesar the things (tribute 
and respect,) that are Caesar's, and to 
God the things that are his, in keep- 



REVELATION. 



321 



they may have right to the tree of life, and may eater 
m through the gates into the city. 

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whore- 
mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever 
loveth and maketh a lie. 

16 1 Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you 



ing his law and walking in all his 
commandments and ordinances blame- 
less. 5- A duty we owe to the min- 
istry, we are to fear, reverence, and 
obey them who have the rule over 
us, as they watch for our souls, as 
they that must give an account. 6. 
A duty of children to parents, to fear 
reverence, serve and obey them, to 
take care of them in old age, when 
not able to take care of themselves, 
what they have done for you in in- 
fancy you are to do for them in old age. 
7. A duty we owe to the church, we 
are not to forget the assembling of 
ourselves together, (every Sabbath,) 
as the manner of some is but to ex- 
hort, encourage and help each other 
daily, especially as the day of final 
retribution is at hand. 8. We owe 
a duty to the world, we are to provide 
things honest in the sight of all men, 
and if possible to owe no man any 
thing, and if we have wronged or 
defrauded any man, to make full res- 
titution, as far as we can, or, accord- 
ing to our ability. Here then are 
his .commandments and blessed and 
holy are they that do them, their re- 
ward will be great in heaven. The 
law, the Rabbins say, required four 
duties: 1. The study of the law. 2. 
Good works, Deut. 28 : 13. 3. Pray- 
er. 4, To be diligent in business so 
as to provide for the family. 



41 



That they may have right to the 
tree of life. Access to it ; union and 
communion with God, the Father, 
and his Son, Jesus Christ, who is the 
life of the world. This Adam and 
Eve lost by disobedience, we regain 
it by obedience to his holy command- 
ments. Hence, he that keeps the 
law shall be delivered from the suffer- 
ings of the Messiah, the wars of Gog 
and Magog, and the torments of hell, 
Tal. Bab. San.fol. 98,2. 

And may enter in through the gates 
into the city. That they be admitted 
into the church militant, through the 
ministers of the gospel, for they have 
the power to admit proper persons into 
the church and to exclude improper 
persons from it. May they always 
use this power to the glory of God 
and the good of man. And from the 
church militant you shall be transmit- 
ted to the church triumphant. 

15 Without are dogs. Persecu- 
tors, oppressors of the poor and desti- 
tute; also heathens, idolaters, liars, de- 
ceivers, and all such characters as are 
described in chap. 21[: 8. They are 
excluded from the church on earth, 
and will be finally excluded from the 
church in heaven. 

16 I Jesus. Your Savior and 
Redeemer. 

Sent mine angel. To show the" 
churches and my ministers my pecu- 



322 • NOTES ON THE 

these things in the churches I am the root and the off- 
spring of David, and the bright and morning-star. 

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let 
him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst 
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely. 



liar regard for them, I have sent rny 
Ambassador to inform them of the 
severe calamities which are just com- 
ing on the world. 

I am the root and the offspring of 
David. See chap. 2 : 8, 5 : 5. 

17 The sjnrit. The Z^rcx iFfVl 
The spirit of Elohim, a person of the 
same nature and duration with God 
called,by St. Paul the eternal Spirit. 
He is the third person of the holy 
Trinity, when he (#£?mos) is come he 
will convince the world of sin, of 
righteousness and of judgment. John 
16 : 8. Therefore he is omniscient, he 
is omnipotent also and he is styled 
&ic;, God, Acts, 5:4. Here, then, is 
proof beyond doubt of the divinity 
and eternity of the holy spirit. 
Hence ij'rj? "\~*r Vtlfi The spirit 
of "King Messsiah. Targ. on 2 
Chronicles 2. 

The bride. The Lamb's wife, the 
pure and perfect virgin, who has 
been united to her living head by 
faith. 

Say come. They both cordially, 
affectionately and earnestly invite you 
to come to the water of life freely, to 
obtain salvation without money and 
without price, w*ill you come my 
dear friend now, this day, hour, mo- 
ment : may God help you to do it. 

Him that heareth, The Gospel of 



our Lord Jesus Christ so as to obey 
it and live Jin all things according 
to it. 

Him that is athirst. That earnestly 
seeks and desires it by prayer, the 
same as the weary traveller in the de- 
serts of Arabia, the cooling spring of 
water. He not only earnestly and 
anxiousl\ T desires the refreshing water 
brook, but believes and hopes he shall 
soon obtain it. Only believe my bro- 
ther, and thou shalt soon see and feel 
the salvation of God. Amen. 

And icliosoevcr icill. Jew or Gen- 
tile, bond or free, black or white, 
young or old, rich or poor, sailor or 
soldier, prince or peasant, master or 
servant, minister or member, all are 
welcome, you may have it free!} 7 , but 
not forcibly ; God sets life and death 
before } r ou and says choose which you 
will ; he persuades, but never com- 
pels; he knocks at the door, but never 
forces an entrance ; the power to con- 
vince and convert is on his part, the 
power to repent and believe on your 
part, and as you cannot do his work 
neither will he do yours. The soul 
that sins shall die, the soul that be- 
lieves shall be saved, so that in the 
day of eternity you will not be con- 
demned for a talent which you have 
not, but for the talent you have, and 
which you have buried in the earth. 



REVELATION. 



323 



18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words 
of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto 
these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are 
written in this book : 

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of 
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part 
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from 
the things which are written in this book. 

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I 
come quickly : Amen. Even so 5 come, Lord Jesus. 

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all 
Amen. 



18 I testify : I Jesus the first and 
the last, the great I am. It is I that 
speak in righteousness, who is. mighty 
to save. 

To every man that heareth. Minis- 
ter or member, Jew or Gentile. 

The words of this prophecy. The 
doctrines, duties and predictions, of 
this inspired book, the fact is it can- 
not be a prophecy without inspiration, 
therefore it is a real canonical book, 
dictated by the spirit of Christ, who 
influenced John to write it to the 
seven churches of Asia. 

Shall add to them. In order to 
show that they are deficient in truth, 
in equity, in language, or, inspiration 
to endeavor to prove that they are 
not of God, but of man. 

19 Diminish from them. Endeavor 
to lessen or destroy their force or in- 
fluence on the minds of the people by 
denying the whole or any part of 
them, or even misapplying them, God 
shall punish him with the plagues of 
this book, either in this life or in the 
life to come, Deut. 4 : 2. 



Shall take away his part out of the 
hook of life. Shall excommunicate 
him from the kingdom of grace and 
glory. He that denies the authority 
and inspiration of the book, is an infi- 
del, and has denied the faith, is a her- 
etic, and deserves to have his name 
erased from the records of eternity, 
and also all the precious promises con- 
tained in this book. 

20 He that testifieth these things. 
That is Christ, and not John ; he 
wrote them as they were revealed to 
him by his Lord and Master : there- 
fore they are the revelations of Jesus, 
and not of John ; the very first chap- 
ter and verse of the book demonstrates 
this. 

Surely I come quickly. Immediate- 
ly, without delay, to take vengeance 
on the wicked and all them that obey 
not my holy gospel. Amen : So be 
it ; may thy will, and not mine, be 
done. 

21 The grace. Love, mere}-, bless- 
ing, of ouriterd Jesus Christ be with 
you all, Amen : and let all the people 



324 



NOTES ON THE REVELATION. 



say Amen. This is the last epistle 
sent by the beloved John to the 
church, it fills up and completes the 
New Testament of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And probably this will be the 
last time I shall ever take up my pen 
to vindicate God's most holy word ; 



and will, no doubt, be my last admo- 
nition to you, my dear friends and 
brethren. And now, may the blessing 
of the Triune God, Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit, rest and abide with you 
and with all the Israel of God hence- 
forth and for ever, Amen. 



THE END, 



